Breezy Springs
by Mysterie1985
Summary: [JackxJamie, sequel to Scorched Winters] The Jabberwocky has made a very dark demand and Jamie's fate depends on what Jack ultimately decides to do. His friends unable to comfort the grieving spirit, who must choose between Jamie and the life that has yet to be born. What can the Guardians do against such a threat? What can anyone? [language, m/m, genre may change]
1. Chapter 1

1 - 1

Three days. That was all they had... no, that was all _he_ had. Jack sat in the room he'd shared with Jamie just hours ago. Jamie had left, likely to fetch his mother whom he'd forgotten about and had only just remembered after seeing his sister safely at the pole and away from that monster called the Jabberwocky. The Jabberwocky. For all of a monster that being was, it was very easy on the eyes and nothing like Jack pictured that it should look like. No, it had to be beautiful and its voice had been pleasant to listen to. Gods did he hate it! It had only been hours since the sand had dissolved after having let the creature speak to them to send a message. That message was that it would let Jamie go free, but at a terrible price. It wanted Jack and Jamie's unborn child. Jack was curled up on the bed he'd shared with Jamie, arms curled protectively around the orb that had gotten a little bigger than before but he didn't really notice. Three days... their child would grow up never knowing the man who created it. The wonderful teen who had been Jack's first believer... then his lover... his mate... and now... Jack hugged the orb a little tighter as he began to silently dissolve into tears once more. How could this have happened? Why had it? He'd had so little time with Jamie... only having recently found him again after spending ten years searching tirelessly for him on the word of a dear friend... That friend was gone now as well. Beyond his reach and the reach of any spirit now. Jack wasn't sure what was worse, the demands of the Jabberwocky or the inevitability that he knew was going to come in a matter of just days. That he would again lose the one person who meant so much to him. He was so deep in his depression that he almost didn't hear the knock at his door; almost, but even though he did he ignored it. He didn't want company, he just... he wanted things to go back the way they were a few days ago. He closed his eyes. How could this be happening to him again? Was he cursed? Was everyone he got close to going to up and disappear on him? Were his friends next? He didn't notice the door open or the fact that a woman walked in and that woman had blonde hair. She crossed her arms as she looked down at him. The orb was at one end of the bed and Jack was on the other, he felt conflicted; wanting to protect it and at the same time hating that it was the reason that he would lose Jamie and that this time Jamie would be gone for good. There would be no bringing him back. Immortals could live forever, provided they weren't overpowered by some special weaponry or ... in Jamie's case... devoured by another immortal. Jack was shaking uncontrollably when Sophie stepped up to him, she frowned. This wasn't the Jack Frost she knew. Who had stood up to Pitch. With an inward sigh she gritted her teeth and hoped to high heavens that her brother would forgive her as she reached out with one hand and smacked Jack. The sting on his cheek shocked him. He sat bolt up, eyes wide even though his body was still shaking a little.

"Now that I have your attention. Are you quite through moping?" Jack could only stare at her and this time she sighed aloud.

"Do you seriously think that you only have two options? I, for one, have not given up on my brother just yet. I'm surprised you have after everything the two of you have been through." Jack's eyes widened further. Given up? What choice was there? She wasn't seriously suggesting that he should feed that monster his child was she?! Sophie rolled her eyes at him.

"Honestly, there are FIVE of you and ONE Jabberwock. You can beat this thing, I know it! You still have time! We have three days to find out how this creature was beaten. Who would know?" Jack was silent, dare he even entertain the smallest flicker of hope?

"Pitch... Pitch would know." Jack said softly.

"So track down that no good shadow and force it out of him." She said, hands on her hips and Jack could only marvel at how she seemed so strong and she was just a mortal; here he was, an immortal being, able to control the elements of winter and he was cowering like a newborn.

"Thanks Soph." He said, taking a deep breath. He could see it, in her green eyes; the same spirit he'd always seen in Jamie's and there was some comfort in that. She gave him a small smile and nodded.

"How about you do us a favor and babysit?" That seemed to shock the girl.

"Don't need to do much, just keep it safe, okay?" She nodded and Jack was up from the bed in one fluid motion and out the door; leaving the girl to just gape before she walked over to the orb and picked it up.

"You sure are going to have an interesting set of parents, you know that right?" She murmured to the orb as it seemed to pulse in her hands. Wait... was it just a trick of the light or was she seeing two lights in what seemed to be a semi-transparent ball? Twins? Jack didn't tell anyone where he was going, he strode towards the globe room; he was going to see Pitch, but it turned out that he didn't need to seek him out. Rather, it seemed the shadow was staring down four unhappy Guardians and a group of yetis.

"Back off guys." Jack said, startling his fellow Guardians. He shouldered his way past the startled four to meet the golden eyes he loathed so much.

"Like it or not, he has information we need." The others stared at Jack, baffled then glared at Pitch.

"Indeed. It is not beneficial to have this creature gobbling up those who feed me anymore than it is for you to let it go about gobbling up your believers; I've no doubt this thing has done both in the short time it has been here."

"You know something. Spit it out Pitch. You're wasting time." Pitch raised an eyebrow at Jack, he knew the frost spirit had a backbone but this was far more aggressive than he ever remembered seeing the boy be.

"Fine. As I told your newest member, the answer is in the words."

"Not good enough mate." Bunny said, glaring at Pitch.

"If you want the answer that badly you're going to have to give me something in return." Jack frowned a little but nodded. For Jamie.

"What is it you want Pitch?" The others stared in blatant shock at Jack now, but he didn't seem to care anymore. Though shock turned to outrage when Pitch spoke up.

"Five years with you doing what I say, Frost." Jack was silent.

"What right have you to demand that!" Tooth asked.

"Ain't no way we-" Bunny began, his voice overlapped by North's resounding voice.

"No! No way!" Pitch merely crossed his arms as Jack was the only one who seemed to actually be considering the offer.

"What would you want him for anyway? Not like he would..." Bunny trailed off and Jack paled suddenly.

"You wouldn't!" Tooth said, eyes widening, her hands flying to her mouth. North paled considerably.

"Wouldn't I?" Pitch asked, neither denying nor confirming their suspicions.

"That is bloody sick mate! He is bonded!" Bunny spat. Pitch just smirked at the other but Jack shook his head. Bunny was right... but...

"We have a deal. Once this is all over." Jack said quietly, shocking the others into silence.

"Jack, you cannot be doing this! You are Guardian!" North protested. Jack spun around, his gaze blazing.

"What choice do we have if we're going to defeat that thing?! It's just five years. I'll live, the people of this world will... will not if we don't do something. It's stayed in Burgess for now... but we can't know that for sure. We can't know how many people have "gone missing" only to end up as fodder for that... that..." He couldn't go on.

"We... we have to do something and as a Guardian... I **will** do what I have to... even if it means..." He didn't say it, didn't look at Pitch or the others; his hands becoming fists. Even if it meant that... it was the oath he'd taken. They had **all** taken it... well, no... Jamie hadn't; yet, but Jack had little doubt that he would. For Jamie... he'd do anything. He'd said as much once and he meant it. He clenched his eyes shut tight, not wanting to think about the fact he was making a deal with one devil to be rid of another.

"We ... we have a deal."

"Very well then. Once the beast is dead and everyone is back where they need to be, come to me before the moon has risen." Jack just nodded, staring at the floor. What had he just agreed to?

1 - 2

Jack shook away the doubts that nagged at him; the other Guardians could handle Pitch, they'd have Jamie to help them and to stop him and... whatever it was that he made Jack do. There was no doubt in his own mind that things would be bad once this was over, but not as bad as losing Jamie or his child. Five years... his child would be five years old when they finally met him. He shuddered, five lonely years... again he shoved the thought in the back of his mind and the others stared at Pitch, waiting to see what the shadow man would say.

"The poem roughly translates to this: one, two! one, two! and through and through the verbal blade went snicker-snack! he left it dead, and with its head went running back." The group just stared at him and Pitch sighed.

"Don't you get it? Honestly..."

"It's the word." The group turned suddenly to see that they had been joined by Jamie's mother.

"Finally! Figures it'd take a mortal to get it." Pitch said and was a little put off when the woman scowled at him. Though he didn't show it.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"The word 'snicker-snack' is what killed the Jabberwocky. It's what has kept it where it has always been. That word, nonsensical as it is, keeps the beast from our realm."

"Just how do you know this?" North asked.

"I do a lot of reading, plus there was a mention of it being a possibility in a book my son read once."

"So then... Jamie knows?" Tooth asked.

"Possibly, I don't know if he'd remember. It was a book he'd checked out in his youth. I read everything he did, just to... make sure he wasn't getting into trouble or anything." The others just sort of stared, except Jack who rolled his eyes at the group. They really did need to get out more into the real world, or rather what the real world was like now. They were nearly seven centuries older than he was and yet it was he who seemed to be the elder when it came to matters involving the humans they protected!

"So... how am I supposed to find this creature?" Jack asked after a moment.

"Didn't it say it would meet you in three days?" Bunny asked.

"Yes, but that's cutting it close. I'd rather not if you don't mind." The group turned to where Pitch had been, to see if the shade had any idea but he was gone. Jack sighed, none of them really surprised that he had slinked away while they had been distracted. The five Guardians began to talk amongst themselves about how they were going to find the monster that had Jamie before time ran out; in the mean time, Jamie's mother - who seemed to have been forgotten momentarily by the others - decided that she would spend this time with her daughter. She'd actually been too enthralled with the place to seek Sophie out and now, though she was still a little dazed at all the wondrous things about, she began to wonder the halls again and opening doors on the level where she'd found Jack before she found the room her daughter was staying in. It didn't surprise her to find her daughter was up and about, though what did startle her a little was the fact that Sophie was sitting in a large comfortable chair wearing a deep green robe and sipping at some hot coco while staring off out the window. The bed was clearly rumpled and suddenly she began to wonder if perhaps her other child was going to be attached to one of the five immortals she'd just been talking with. She was pretty sure that was true as she'd never seen her daughter seem to glow so with quiet contentment before.

"Sophie?" Sophie turned at the familiar voice and smiled despite that she was surprised that the person who came in wasn't who she was expecting at all.

"Mom!" She set the cup down on a nearby tray, that held the remnants of breakfast, and rushed over to embrace her mother.

"I was wondering when they'd bring you here."

"Yes, well Jack was very prompt when I called." Sophie gave her mother a strange look, then she realized that something was wrong indeed; her mother looked haggard. Had she missed something? Was there something that she knew that Bunny hadn't told her? Sophie watched as the elderly woman sighed and began to tell her what had happened. True to the woman she'd become over the years, Sophie didn't lose any part of her calm and had simply sipped at what remained of her drink while her mother had pulled up a second chair to talk.

"I see... well I can understand why you did what you did and I think Jamie would too. Jack's been... not quite himself since the orb was made. I think he's acting a lot like a pregnant woman." Sophie's lips twitched in a smile and was glad when her mother seemed to share the sentiment.

"Wait... why would he be acting like that?" Sophie nearly choked down the last of her drink when she realized no one had told her.

"Um... well, I'm not sure how I'm going to fully explain this. See that?" She pointed to the foot of the bed and her mother's eyes turned to see that there was the strangest yet most decorated orb she'd ever seen. It was made of ice and had leaf patterns all over it and seemed to glow with an inner light and at the same time, also seemed to be semi-transparent.

"What about it?"

"That's holding your grandbabies." She watched with a smile as the news sunk in and her mother's eyes widened.

"M-my... I'm going to be a grandmother?" Sophie nodded and watched her mother get up and move towards the floating orb, running her hands over it in curious wonder. Never had she seen something like this and it was both warm and cool to the touch. As she looked at it, she realized that one of the lights inside seemed to have a pink hue while the other had a blue.

"Wow... I... How...?" Sophie shrugged at the question.

"I imagine it has something to do with them both being spirits, I actually haven't questioned it. Jack stuck me with baby sitting duty a couple of hours ago." She watched at the older woman turned around and raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"I certainly hope you didn't engage in what I think you did young lady, especially not around my grandchildren!" Sophie's eyes widened. How had she... ? Her cheeks flushed crimson as she realized what her mother was implying.

"N-no! Nothing like that... I... um..." The older woman's features softened a little.

"Which one?" Sophie fidgeted a little.

"Bunnymund." She all but squeaked out, Sophie had taken a shower recently but it had not occurred to her that her mother would think she'd been doing _that_ with her beloved while watching over her niece and nephew. Not that she hadn't been tempted when Bunny had come in earlier, but she had pushed it away. She stood up and went again and went over to the wardrobe on one side of the room; she picked out a dark green tunic and a set of baggy brown pants and quickly dressed. She wondered what her mother would think, not just that her daughter was in love with an immortal, but one of a completely different species to boot! Sophie couldn't help it, he was so gentle... He had always been kind to her, even if he was a little rough around the edges and he had always made her feel like she could do anything. He'd been the one to encourage her to look after children as a job while she wrote her books before she'd become semi-famous.

"Guess I should have known. Your brother always did tease you about being that rabbit's special 'ankle-biter.'"

"Yeah.. well, it was all just fun and games until recently. I guess I was always too nervous to speak up." She added the last bit when she saw her mother raise an eyebrow at her.

"I even found a spell that would make me like him when the time comes. I was going to do it but then the Jabberwocky showed up and... well... it just didn't seem as important."

"I understand dear. You should know that I'll support you in whatever you decide."

"Thanks mom."

"Now, what makes you think there are two?'

"Ah, well I've done some reading on this orb. Apparently however many lights are inside will tell us how many children there are. Their color also states gender."

"How long will they be in there?"

"About a month. I know, pretty quick, but it's faster - I think - because of how powerful Jack and Jamie are... the longest time that the book stated was four months."

"That's still very quick."

"Yeah... but we are talking about baby spirits, not baby humans."

"True... is this how all spirits are born?"

"Not all, just how they are born when two spirits... er..." Her mother raised a hand to forestall anything else.

"I get the picture." Sophie smiled in relief.

"So then, I take it your books are based on fact." Sophie nodded.

"They told me their stories, though it was easier to get the stories from some more than others. I wrote about Jamie too, but I haven't published it yet."

"Still writing his story?"

"More like I haven't had the time to talk to Jack about his half of the story." Sophie plopped back down on the chair she'd vacated a moment ago to get dressed and put away the robe she'd borrowed. Had she been honest with herself, she'd been a bit lazy about getting dressed and that had been why she'd been wearing the robe; plus she needed to look at least somewhat decent. She pushed aside those thoughts as she considered what it was she'd learned about Jamie and the Jabberwocky, the deal that Jack had made with Pitch and the answer that the Boogeyman had provided.

It was dark and cold, colder than Jamie would like; he wasn't exactly sure where he was at, only that he was in some forest of some sort and that a beautiful beast was slumbering nearby in a chair made from wood and forest vines. Jamie didn't make a peep, he wasn't in a cage or anything like that; there weren't any bonds that he could see but he had a pretty good idea that the Jabberwocky didn't need them. Jamie was as quiet as a mouse as he stood up and began to stretch. How long had he been in this place? He barely remembered coming here after he'd heard that lovely voice... He aimed a scowl at the figure who sat sleeping in the chair that Jamie had been laying against. This creature, who was more beautiful than Jamie could have imagined it to be, had kidnapped him; it had lain in wait, stalking his mother and for what? A single ruby eye opened and lazily regarded him, apparently the Jabberwocky wasn't so much sleeping as resting. Why was he still alive?

"What do you want from me?" He demanded and he watched as the humanoid sat up, both eyes open now.

"Nothing, you have nothing I want."

"Then why didn't you just eat me?" A soft chuckle came from his foe that sent chills up his spine.

"I may as well, but I promised Frost I would give him three days." Jamie blinked.

"Three days?"

"To exchange the young spirit for you." Jamie paled, knowing instantly that this ... this... there wasn't a word good enough to describe what he was staring at. This... _thing_ meant to devour his unborn child! He glared at the being who seemed to regard him calmly.

"You may see me as some sort of a monster, but I am nothing if not true to my word. Mortals are tasty, yes, but they lack that certain flare that comes from having a spirit and the younger the spirit the more delicious they are." Jamie couldn't suppress a shudder. They were talking about eating live beings after all.

"You don't seem afraid." The Jabberwocky said after a moment, Jamie sat down where he was; there wasn't much of a point in standing really since he wasn't going anywhere.

"Why should I be?" The summer spirit spat, much as he heard the voice he couldn't tell if it was meant to be male or female... or perhaps it was meant to be neither since this being had shown no signs of being either gender really.

"Why wouldn't you? I could devour you now and you would spend the rest of your existence in my stomach, being slowly digested for the next hundred years." Jamie raised an eyebrow at the thing before him.

"Is that why you eat so often?" The being shrugged.

"I eat when I need to." Jamie considered this bit of information. What did he know about the Jabberwocky and could he use it against this thing? That poem seemed to run through his mind, or what parts he remembered; that it was mostly nonsense didn't help one bit. There was something about that line... a vorpal blade... something... something he'd read once that was trying to click in his head. What was it? What did the poem mean by vorpal blade?

1 - 3

Jamie closed his eyes, thinking about what he knew; how he could use it to escape, maybe even put an end to this creature. _Come on Jamie... you know all this stuff..._ He thought in frustration. He knew that he couldn't simply walk away from this creature; no legend of it had said anything about it having the power to entrance anyone and while the creature was beautiful to look at and seemed to enchant every creature around it, Jamie was only disgusted. How dare such an evil citter hide behind the mask of beauty! He rubbed his eyes, raging over the creature's appearance wasn't going to change anything. The creature, he mused, could be "slain" in a matter of speaking and he'd a good idea that it had before. With a vorpal blade... Where was he going to find such a weapon? Did such a thing even exist? What would it look like when he found it? Considering that the poem had been written such a long time ago, was it likely that the vorpal blade was some sort of sword... He considered this, what kind of blade would it have had to have been to "slay" an immortal creature like the Jabberwocky? After all, one just didn't kill an immortal; one really couldn't per say, not that immortals were entirely invulnerable, just difficult to kill. It took a special sort of weapon or another immortal's power to defeat another immortal let alone destroy them. He was looking at that sort of thing in the mouth at the moment; if the Jabberwocky ate him... he'd spend the rest of his existence, however short, being digested. Well wasn't that a lovely thought? Jamie brushed it aside, he didn't fear death... what he did fear, however, was the fate of his child. He would do anything to keep the young spirit safe and if that meant being eaten alive... So be it. He closed his eyes, he'd died once before and he'd made peace with that death; no one had been at fault and if anyone was to be at fault now for his death it would be this creature. Jamie couldn't say that he wasn't afraid, no... that would be a lie and maybe he did fear what it would be like to be eaten, but considering what the alternative would be... No, he wouldn't balk at this, he would stand firm. He winced though as he thought about how hard Jack must be taking this. How was it that the winter spirit had to suffer losing him again after the short time they had spent together? There were so many places he'd wanted to share with his love, places he'd discovered in the ten years he'd had away from Jack. Jamie got up again to pace, the Jabberwocky didn't seem concerned that he'd try to escape and closed its eyes again. Even if he did get away from this creature, he had a feeling it wouldn't matter; the creature need only sing again and he'd be right back where he'd started. Sing... could he block out the music? What about the magic that he knew had to be woven into it? He thought about this a moment, most musical magic relied on the fact that he needed to be able to hear the tune in question; it wouldn't work otherwise. Where would he find something to block out the sound? Even if he could find something, what would he do? Jamie felt helpless, but he forced it down as he tried to think about what he could do; he didn't want Jack to suffer or their child to grow up with only one parent, but with as grim as things were... Jamie wasn't as sure as he'd like to be that there was another option. This wasn't some fairy tale story and he wasn't some damsel in distress. He almost laughed at the thought; almost laughed at the next one - how he hoped he gave the Jabberwocky indigestion. Gallows humor. Jamie sighed as he glanced around, birds that slept in branches nearby would no doubt sing on command. Wolves stood like guards, prowling the area and ignoring the many rabbits that cuddled like children up against the resting form of his captor. Had he not known better he'd have thought this astounding scene of a benevolent ruler. The Jabberwocky was not benevolent and was more dictator than ruler; having no care for those it had control over, much like puppets. Trying his best not to give into despair, Jamie looked around for anything that could be useful but only twigs and leaves were to be seen.

The summer spirit sighed, the best he could do would be to set the place on fire and hope someone saw it... What were the odds and yet it sparked hope in Jamie and so he began to search the surrounding area to find the best twigs and leaves. He began making small piles everywhere to he could that would be mostly out of sight and prayed that Mother Nature would forgive him for what he was about to do... The fire was huge, Pippa stared as she had seen the beginnings of it and yet it was only huge for a brief moment before it was forcibly snuffed out. What in blazes?! Fires just didn't do that! Curious, she walked into the forest where she wore she'd seen it... She passed by the scorch marks, examining them with a frown. This couldn't be right... Fire couldn't spell out words and yet here in one tree was: Get help

She moved to another: Jabberwocky

Now this was getting stranger and stranger by the moment and she flipped open her phone to the notepad to jot down the odd words and ended up with:

Get help

Jabberwocky

Tell them

From Guardians

Dangerous here

Believe

Pippa frowned as she walked back the way she'd come, Jamie watched his one-time friend jot down the message he'd managed to leave with the flames on various trees before the Jabberwocky's song had interrupted him and forced him to douse the flames. It wasn't a full message and the animals had hidden while both Jamie and the Jabberwocky watched her; she was oblivious to them both obviously. With a shrug she headed off to Cupcake's, she seemed to lose interest but it was an act. Not because she had actually seen Jamie or the Jabberwocky but because she felt that she was being watched and she was too smart to make it seem like she'd any real interest in this. She made sure to take a picture of one tree.

"Someone is going to have a field day with this on the net." She said aloud with a grin and skipped off, giddy in her steps but her gaze became serious though she doubted that whoever or whatever was watching her would realize this. Only when the feeling of being watched subsided did she bolt at a dead run. She banged on the door when she reached the house, the frantic knocking brought an answer quickly.

"Pippa?" The once huge girl had become a medium sized woman, but she had lost none of what made her intimidating; if anything she was more so now that she'd grown, but that had never bothered Pippa. They'd grown up together, why would she be intimidated by her friend?

"Cupcake, this is important. I found something you should see." She gave Pippa a funny look before letting her inside.

"Look at this." She showed her the image of the tree that had the words "Get help" burned into it.

"Okay, yeah... That's bizarre, fire doesn't do that normally." She frowned at the image Pippa was showing her.

"I think it's a message from someone... someone who needs our help. I found other words, similarly burned into the area and other trees." Pippa closed the image and opened the notepad, setting it in front of him. She looked at it a moment.

"I'm not sure it's in order. It doesn't look like it makes sense."

"Yeah... I'm not the best at this sort of thing but it looks to me like this order makes the most sense. Though, you know me, I'm not the egghead Monty was. I think it's...: Dangerous here, get help from Guardians. Jabberwocky. Tell them. Believe.

"Believe what?"

"I'm guessing in the Guardians." There was a moment of silence, the two girls hadn't believed since they were kids.

"But... that just a dream." Cupcake protested, but at the moment it looked like a feeble thing in face of Pippa's strange messages. After all, even humans couldn't carve messages like this in trees.

"I thought it was too, but... if it wasn't, as this suggests..."

"Then... we need to believe to help." There was a long silence then.

"Alright, what should we do then?" Cupcake asked.

"The old pond... it's connected to Jack, maybe we can get in touch with him there."

"And if he's the one in trouble?"

"We won't know until we try." Cupcake didn't bother with a coat as Pippa stowed the phone away in a pocket. The two headed off into the forest, it wasn't hard to find the pond that they remembered from their childhood as if they had only been there the day before. The two looked at one another before Pippa picked up a rock and hurled it at the ice. They waited a moment and then Pippa picked up another one, hurling it like the first and began to search for a few more even before the pebble had landed against the frozen ice with a soft thunk. After the fourth rock though the two nearly fell over at the gust of wind that suddenly blew from behind them and they looked at one another though they didn't see anyone. With a huff, Pippa closed her eyes, remembering what the message had said: Believe.

"We have to believe..." She murmured to Cupcake who closed her eyes as Pippa had and the two stood there for a moment, when they opened their eyes they nearly gasped; not in surprise because they saw Jack, but because he seemed so different than they remembered. His skin seemed to have an odd sheen to it that they didn't remember from when they had seen him in their childhood and while he seems to glow with health, his eyes seem to speak of a weariness that his physical body isn't showing. A soft smile plays at his lips as he sees the two.

"Hey Pippa, Cupcake. Long time no see." Cupcake just smiled in greeting.

"You look... different, but in a good way!" Pippa said with a smile.

"You've grown too." He replied, not wanting to waste any time in explaining anything.

"What's up? I mean, you obviously called me."

"Well... there's something we think you should see." Pippa said after a moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Jamie ran his hands through his hair, he didn't want sleep; even as the sun began to sink below the horizon. With the setting of the sun came the night and with the night meant only two more days. He felt his breath hitch and he had to beat back the instinctual fear of death that came naturally to all beings.

"You do not fear death?" Jamie snorted at the question.

"Only a fool doesn't not fear it." The Jabberwock eyed the captured summer spirit with a look of mild curiosity.

"Yet you seem fearless. You do not seem to fear being devoured by me." He gave a bitter laugh.

"I fear it, but only because I was once human. I fear more what would happen if Jack lets his feelings for me overtake him. I fear more what you plan for others than I fear the death you bring. That is inevitable, but what comes after that... That is different." Ruby eyes blinked.

"You are concerned for them? Why?"

"Because of something you can never understand."

"And that would be?"

"Love. Friendship." He replied. The silence was thick enough to cut and make a meal of.

"You should rest."

"Why? So you can eat me faster?"

"Fine. Don't then. A few days without rest will not change your fate nor make you less desirable." Came the indifferent reply. Jamie almost sighed, as much as he hated to admit it, the Jabberwocky was right. Whether he slept or not made no difference so he decided he'd get some sleep while he could. He moved as far from the creature as it would permit before curling beneath a tree; aware that ruby eyes were watching him carefully before shifting away, apparently satisfied that he was close enough, yet seeming confused at the same time. The Jabberwocky had tried to beguile and bewitch him without using its voice but he had rebuffed each attempt. Its voice was a last ditch effort, used only when necessary against him when nothing else worked and it required that he do something. Before he knew it, Jamie had drifted from the waking world. The resulting dream would be something that he would remember when the sun rose.

_Jamie looked around, a little unsure of where he was for a moment until he saw the frozen water before him. He realized then where he was, it was Jack's pond and he blinked when he saw a figure sitting in the middle of the pond._

"You! You're... you're her..." He said as he tried to figure out what he was seeing. Dressed in a black hoodie and blue jeans was the woman he vaguely remembered seeing Jack weep over after he had stolen her final breath away.

"Yes. I am." She smiled at him, it was soft and welcoming.

"Your name was... is... Kari."

"I'm flattered you remember me Jamie."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help, as much as I can anyway."

"Why here?" She shrugged in response.

"It's your dream, you decide where you are at." Jamie said nothing, this place held a special meaning for him. It was where he had witnessed Jack becoming a Guardian and the site of many firsts for him, many memories.

"What do you mean, help? I mean... you died." A soft chuckled followed his statement and he blinked in confusion. Why was this funny?

"I did, yes, but you must realize that death is not the end. An ending, perhaps, but not the ending. I was not allowed to linger in this world as you were because I had fulfilled my initial purpose. My time was over and there was no reason for me to linger."

"Does that make you a ghost?"

"Do I look like one?" She asked in return and Jamie took a look at her. She didn't look dead, in fact she looked the perfect picture of health and she wasn't transparent by any means.

"No, but then again... this is a dream."

"I'm real enough, although I do not have a form outside of this dream."  
"Exactly who are you? Why were you so important to Jack?"

"Ah, so he hasn't told you my story yet. Well, that is perhaps for another time. For now I am here for you, to help you overcome the monster that has come to your world."

"My world? You speak as if there are others."

"There are, but that is knowledge that you need not have. It is not important. Know only this, I have come from the next life to aide you as I can."

"Exactly how are you supposed to help? I mean, let's face it. I'm stuck in the clutches of the Jabberwocky due to its ability to sing."

"Yes, that is true, but consider this. You have options besides just staying around to wait to be eaten."

"Yeah... I set a fire. I'm hoping the Guardians will see it or someone who can get them."

"It's a start. It's not all you can do. Jack told me how much you studied myths. What do you know about this creature?"

"Well... it's deadly, it eats humans, it can entrance others with its looks or by singing."

"What else?" She tilted her head, seeming to listen with rapt curious attention.

"Well..." He had to think on that one a moment.

"It is driven to satisfy its own desires. Like the need for comfort." He thought about the rabbits and the birds who had been so close.

"The need for hunger too I suppose."

"Yes, there is that, but you do know more."

"How do you know this?"

"Same as I know that it was a mortal who first bested this creature without knowing that he had. You see, the poem is the answer."

"Can't you just tell me the answer?" He asked, frustration building.

"I could, but then what would you learn? I am not here to just hand things to you on a silver platter. Life is not fair that way and if I did tell you then I would be unable to return." Jamie raised an eyebrow at that.

"Rules of the other world. I wish I could tell you more, but of course I'm limited." Jamie nodded, he knew a little about limitations. Assuming he survived this, he'd have to live by them when he took the oath to become a Guardian.

"You are destined for greatness, along with the help of another you will become a Guardian. First you must remember what it is you know."

"The poem... it mentioned a vorpal blade... but that was so long ago. How am I supposed to find a weapon that old?"

"You don't have to find it. You've always had it." Jamie frowned in thought. He'd always had it? Was it possible that the "vorpal blade" wasn't really a sword of any sort? After all, Jamie didn't have a sword. He thought about what he did have, aside from having the powers of summer, he had his intellect, the normal senses... the ability to speak... To speak... A... Suddenly something occurred to him.

"The vorpal blade... it's a spoken word ... isn't it?" He asked hesitantly. He was guessing at this point, barely remembering his brief study of the poem in college.

"Very good. It is indeed." Suddenly everything began to click into place. The answer had been right in front of him the whole time when he'd looked up that poem!

"Of course! But... I wonder, is it that simple?" Kari shook her head.

"Alone, you do not have the magic needed to fully take on the Jabberwock, but with those you call friend you will have more than enough force to send it back where it belongs."

"Just where does it belong?" Kari just smiled a little and the sun seemed to rise behind her, the light reflecting off the ice was blinding and he knew instinctively that he'd run out of time just as sure as he knew that she could not answer his question. The sun's first rays had woken him like a lover, gentle against his face and he fought it to go back to the dream, but it was no use. He opened his eyes and glanced about, relieved to see that the Jabberwocky had seen fit to leave him beneath his tree instead of command him to be closer. Jamie hadn't seen the creature leave to hunt and that meant one of two things, either the creature had hunted while he'd slept or hadn't at all.

2 - 2

Jack looked at the image on Pippa's phone, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Where did you take this?" He asked, not bothering to ask about the rest of the message.

"A ways from here. There's a park downtown, I saw the small forest there seem to catch fire and then suddenly be doused... Jack, what's going on?"

"It's Jamie." The two girls looked at each other, exchanging a startled look.

"Jamie?" Cupcake asked, curiosity on her features now.

"Yeah. Look, I don't have time to explain, he's in danger and I have to get to him."

"Anything we can do to help?" Cupcake asked, but Jack just shook his head.

"No, I don't want either of you near the Jabberwocky, it's a people eater." The fear he saw in the girls' eyes assured him that the two were going to stay well clear of that particular park for a good long while. At least until they saw that things had been dealt with. Jack left the girls standing next to his pond, racing towards the park that Pippa had indicated. He knew which one she meant and he stood on the edge of it; he wasn't sure if he could get close enough to nab Jamie away from the monster or not. Jack slowly walked through woods, careful to control his magic and careful to be soundless as he moved. It wasn't long before he found a small clearing, he stood behind a tree, staying very still as he'd found them. His eyes first found Jamie who was standing in the middle with eyes locked with the Jabberwocky; Jack felt like a thirsty man who had finally got a drink of water as he looked at his beloved, apparently Jamie was just as he had left him. It was a huge relief, but he noticed that the summer spirit also seemed to be in some debate with the ruby-eyed creature that sat on a throne that seemed made of vines.

"You don't have a clue." Jamie said, his voice ringing out clear.

"Is that so?" Jack found it easier than he'd figure to keep from being entranced by the creature's appearance this time, in fact, he had trouble keeping his eyes off Jamie.

"For all your knowledge and wisdom, you don't know what it really means to love." Jamie said, his tone clearly mocking.

"You can't love something you control like a mindless puppet. Love isn't something you force, it is given freely." Jack was sure that if the Jabberwocky could frown, it would have. There was obvious displeasure in the creature's eyes. Jack slipped behind the tree, freezing when he heard the voice again.

"Stay here and keep the seat warm spirit, it's all you're good for."

"Just where are you off to?" Jamie all but demanded.

"To hunt." Jack froze, now he wondered if he could... No. He chided himself, he knew better; there was no stopping the creature. He slowly counted to twenty, then to thirty before he peaked around. Jamie was sitting in the clearing, arms crossed, eyes closed. The Jabberwocky was gone and all the creatures about that he'd seen seemed to drop into a deep slumber without their master there. Jack let out a shaky breath. This was perfect, the opportunity that he was looking for. Jack instantly flew over to Jamie and touched his shoulder. Jamie's eyes flew open and he looked up with a soft smile when he saw Jack.

"Jack..." Worry crossed his features after a moment.

"If you're here then who..?" Jack smiled.

"Sophie is watching them." Jamie blinked.

"Them?! As in..."

"Yeah, but we can talk about that later once we get you out of here." Jamie smiled a little sadly.

"I can't leave Jack. It's the power of the Jabberwocky... it's the only thing keeping me here actually." Jack sighed.

"I was afraid of that."

"It's smart, but I've figured out how to beat it."

"Yeah, I know how to as well." Jamie blinked in surprise.

"You do? Then you know about the word?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Does it matter?"

"No... but Jack... I was told I couldn't do this alone. That... I needed someone else's help. Just one of us saying it isn't going to work."

"Who told you this?"

"A friend... I'll explain later when all this is over." _If I live through this..._

"Jack, I'm going to need everyone here to overthrow this creature. I... I think you should let Sophie come."

"What?! Why?" Jack didn't get it, he knew that Jamie wouldn't needlessly endanger his sister unless he really thought...

"Jack, I just.. have a feeling I'm going to need her help on this." Jack was silent as he stared into Jamie's eyes and then slowly nodded.

"You need to leave, before it comes back. We don't want it to suspect anything." He added when it looked as if Jack was about to protest.

"Jamie... I'll come back for you. I promise." Jamie nodded, Jack began to turn away, as if to leave but he stopped suddenly and turned back. Jack threw himself at Jamie, pressing his lips to Jamie's in a heated kiss as if his life depended on it. Jamie embraced him tightly, melting instantly into the demanding kiss as Jack thrust his tongue into Jamie's mouth; desperately seeking that familiar warmth. Jamie let him, not knowing for sure if this wouldn't be the last time he held Jack... the last time he would feel the embrace of his beloved. Just as quickly as it had begun, Jack pulled back.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Jamie said breathlessly, his blood heated slightly from the kiss. Jack flew off before he could stop himself from doing anything more; from trying to get Jamie out of there when he knew there was no way that was going to happen. Leaving Jamie behind, knowing he was in the clutches of that monster was... one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. Still, he had to trust that Jamie knew what he was doing. Jack raced back to the pole, his mind savoring the kiss he had pulled from his love. He had to admit he hadn't expected that Jamie would be so pliant, but he'd made note of it... he liked it. Maybe he should do it more often... Assuming the both of them lived through this. Jack wasn't going to let Jamie get eaten; if anything... he was going to ensure this time that his love didn't face death again without him... He fully intended to take Jamie's place if this didn't work out right... Jamie deserved to live. He... he could live with himself - for however brief it would be - if it was Jamie who was allowed to live. It also meant breaking his deal with Pitch... but who cared? It wasn't like the Boogeyman would be able to pull him out of the creature's belly and ... well, it'd be worth it. Jamie was worth it.

Sophie paced the room, she was fidgety. It had taken a while to find the spell but now that she was in her room with the spell before her she felt nervous. Was she really ready to do this? She took a deep breath, she needed to do a couple things first before she did this. She closed her eyes, the memory came to her instantly.

"_Ya look nervous, what's up tulip?" That was the nickname Bunny used when they were alone because no one else had noticed the way she looked at Bunny when he was around and she had purposely kept it that way for a while. The Pooka had seemed content to do the same._

"_I guess I am."_

"_What's this about? I ain't never seen you like this before." He'd watched her grow into a confident young woman. His little ankle-biter was no longer little and she'd made something of herself. Writing stories about all of them and taking care of other ankle-biters. He'd always come back to play with her until she'd become a teenager. He'd watched her from afar then, visiting less and less... well, until the last few of years when North had insisted he visit more. When he hadn't... That didn't bare thinking on at the moment. Sophie turned to meet his gaze, her eyes sparkling like the emerald that hung around her neck in the shape of an egg; far as he knew she had never taken his gift off since he'd given it to her years before._

"_Bunny, you know... things are ... well. We're not just friends."_

" '_Course I know." He said quietly. He'd felt it, the change had been gradual of course, but he hadn't missed the shift in her behavior or the shift in her scent a few times she'd been around him... Oh boy... that had been a test in his self restraint several times since the first time he'd caught the scent of... He shook the thought from his mind before it went places it really shouldn't._

"_Bunny... I... I love you." _

It hadn't been easy to say and, well, it hadn't exactly gone as planned either. Bunny hadn't outright rejected her, but he hadn't returned her affections either. He'd been ... well, himself. She sighed, rubbing her temples; he could be infuriating at times, oh he'd ranted about all the reasons she should be with a human male and how there were so many others, but no. For her there never had been. Sure, he wasn't human, but he was everything that she wanted and she was going to prove it. Opening her eyes, she pulled out her phone and dialed the number; she'd asked North if there was reception up here at the North Pole, North had laughed and told her that of course there was reception here. She waited for the woman on the other end to pick up.

2 - 3

"It's time." It was the first words out of her mouth.

"Are you certain?"

"I told you I'd never call this number unless it meant I was leaving. I let you know in the beginning that it was bound to happen, that if I called you on this number it meant I didn't have the ability to give you two weeks notice."

"Sophie-"

"Don't argue. I told you from day one this might happen. It has." There was a sigh on the other end.

"Are you sure you won't change your mind?"

"I can't on this. It's not really up to me."

"I see. I'll set things in motion then."

"Thanks Laurie."

"Take care of yourself Sophie."

"I will, you too." She ended the call. There was no going back now, a smile crept up on her face. This is what she wanted and now she was finally letting go. Not of what she wanted, but of the life she'd been living in anticipation for this moment the moment she'd found this spell in North's library what seemed like only the night before, but it had been years... She shook her head and locked the door, laying the phone on the bed. The spell warned the reader that it wasn't reversible if the original caster was human because of the changes that would come that would embed magic into their very blood... they would be able to change form of course with other spells but never would the one who spoke this spell be human ever again. Sophie slipped from her clothes, the spell didn't say it was necessary to not be wearing anything, but did caution that it could hinder the spell if there was anything that wasn't skin tight. She wasn't going to take any chances; standing bare as the day she was born, she began to recite the spell. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then as the changes came over her suddenly and swiftly, a painful cry tore itself from her mouth. The spell hadn't warned her that it would be painful, she shut her eyes as tight as she could; curling up as she whimpered. Gods it hurt! With a final cry of pain she slumped, barely aware now of the sound of someone calling her name and the door being kicked in.

Bunny had been lounging near a fireplace when he'd felt a tug. Well, okay it wasn't a physical tug, just the sort of feeling that one got when that someone was a user of magics. Saying it was a "tug" was the only way to describe the feeling and he and North were really the only Guardians who would have noticed... North was in his office though and the feeling wasn't coming from there it was coming from... A faint cry reached his ears. SHIT! He shot to his feet and bolted as fast as he could towards the living quarters, he knew that voice... it was... no... She couldn't have!

"Sophie!" He roared, ready to tear limb from limb whatever was causing that pain. When he got to the room he tried the handle only to find it was locked. He heard it again and he swore his heart stopped then.

"SOPHIE!" Damn North for making doors so resistant to force! He thought as he slammed up against the door with no luck. He moved back a pace and kicked the door with as much force as he could muster; it busted the lock and frame but he didn't care as it swung open and he couldn't help but stare. Sophie was nowhere in sight, instead what lay on the floor was a Pooka. Her fur was brown as tree bark and the markings on her fur were... different. That was the only way he could explain them, he'd never seen markings like hers before. They looked like waves, but in the dips of the dark brown waves also seemed to be varying figures of ... well, he wasn't sure what because each one seemed different than the last. She... she smelled like Sophie but this couldn't be... it... He could only stare as the Pooka groaned. How many centuries had it been since he'd seen another Pooka? Since he'd caught wind of the scent of his own kind? He wasn't the only one who stared. Sophie's mother was behind him and she moved into the room past the shocked spring spirit.

"Sophie Bennett! What on earth have you been up to?!" Bunny's jaw dropped. North, who had come racing behind him, tried not to laugh and Bunny found he was staring at familiar green eyes when the other Pooka opened hers. Her pink nose twitching softly as she began to come around to the world around her once more. This was incredible! It was all Sophie could think as she realized she could smell everything! She could hear all of the breathing around her and she heard her mother's reprimand; she opened her eyes and looked up at the older woman.

"Ah... Well..." It was all she could manage, a flush began to spread beneath her fur as she caught the scent that she could only figure was Bunny as her instincts were telling her that she was scenting a male Pooka who was in his prime and... Oh gods... If she could smell THAT on him then... She blushed harder, realizing that Bunny must have... Okay, now she just wanted to find a hole to crawl into for a little while. This was utterly embarrassing. Bunny, who had been openly staring, was now shifting a little uncomfortably.

"Er... think ya can all give us a minute?"

"Fine, but I will want to have words with my daughter afterwards." Bunny nodded, he wasn't going to get in the way of a mother. Satisfied, she left the room and North followed suit. Without a word, Bunny padded over to Sophie and picked her up bridal style.

"Bunny, what-" She cut herself off as he summoned a tunnel and dropped into it with her in his arms. This wasn't the place for them to talk. He took her straight to his nest in the warren. Her green eyes were big and so inviting and... _NO! Get ahold of yourself!_ He berated himself harshly even as he set her down. She stretched out her new limbs and oh gods... She looked over her shoulder at her tail, it wiggled and she giggled a little at that and closed her eyes. Standing up tall, she sniffed the air and Bunny's eyes widened at the way she stiffened. Oh gods she had... she knew... He knew she knew by the flush that deepened beneath her fur. He stuck his head in his paws.

"Look... tulip... I..." He tried to get his mouth to work, but it was so dang hard with her acting so innocent and yet the way she was looking at him now, how her eyes had darkened told him that she knew _exactly_ what effect she was having on him and she was doing it on purpose. He swallowed, hard.

"I told you before. This is what I wanted. I'm sure I don't have to explain what else I want." Bunny's mouth fell open and went dry. Oh gods... She... No he couldn't... Jamie would kill him. He could see it now, how the summer spirit would skin him alive after singing his fur black and setting him up on a spit to be roasted.

"I can't... Jamie..."

"You let me worry about that brother of mine. Besides, not like he'll know right off the bat." Bunny refused to move an inch closer to her, he didn't move a single muscle even as she carefully hopped on her new legs over to him; she turned about and snuggled up against him, rubbing against his chest, he barely was able to stifle a groan as he felt his blood beginning to heat. Gods yes... How long had it been since... ? He didn't let the thought finish.

"Sophie... I... Are you... are you sure about this? It... it can't be undone once we-" He cleared his throat at that last bit. She was an adult, but she needed to know that Pookas mated for life; if she willingly lay with him in his nest, here and now... he would never take another mate.

"Yes, I know. I've done my homework Bunnikins." No one else could get away with calling him that. He squirmed a little as she continued to press her body up against his.

"Don't say I didn't warn ya."

"Wouldn't dream of it." That was the last straw and she let out a playful yelp when he shifted to nip at her neck.

"Wow..." She said with a soft laugh, he shifted to look into her eyes. They shone with the aftermath of what they had just done and love. Love for him.

"I read that such things could be intense but... wow... just wow.." He couldn't help chuckling.

"This is only the beginning. I have so much more to show you." Her eyes grew wide and he could only grin. Yes their first time had been great, but there were a few books that _weren't_ in North's library if only because this sort of thing didn't need to be. Bunny had kept them in his own personal collection, they had actually always been among the Pookas and were one of the few things written by Pooka hands that had survived Pitch's attack. One such book was explicit on the mating season that came just after Easter. Now wasn't that time, of course, but it would be in a few months and Bunny planned to show his new mate a thing or two that even humans probably had never thought of. He smiled down at her, it filled him with such love and joy, knowing she was his for all eternity now. That he wasn't alone. Now he understood all too well why Jack had defied all the rules for Jamie... This was what love did to a being. He whispered three words he never thought he ever would in his life.

"I love you."

**A/N: okay... so I'm in this story (wasn't preplanned... just kind of happened) and I have always thought that Bunny/Sophie were cute together... so I've done that here. sorry to those who prefer other pairings with Bunny, but I decided I need at least one "normal" couple... well, as normal as this was going to get anyway ha ha... **

**yes... Sophie has an important part to play, which will become clear later on (if her markings didn't give it away) if it isn't clear already due to all the hints I've dropped. **


	3. Chapter 3

3 - 1

Jack paced in his room, the orb was nestled safely on the bed and under his watchful eyes, it was night two... He couldn't help but be anxious, especially since he'd seen Jamie just hours ago and he was becoming more and more certain that he wasn't going survive this encounter. Speaking of which... who could he trust to watch the orb while he, Sophie and the other Guardians were facing the Jabberwocky? He thought on it long and hard. Well, there was only one person left that he felt he could trust... The soon-to-be-grandmother. Yes, she was intimidating and he'd heard some rather choice words from her, if muffled, when the newly made Pooka - Sophie, had returned to speak with her mother. Jack couldn't help smiling a little to himself, Bunny had practically towered over Sophie as if he expected any of the others to mean his new mate harm. He'd admitted the first moment that the others had seen him that he and Sophie were now together; this hadn't gone well at all of course when Sophie's mother had seen her, but Bunny had stood firm with Sophie, holding her close in his paws as the elderly woman had stared at them. Had the woman had Jamie's powers Jack was sure that Bunny would have been lit on fire hundreds of times over by now. The commotion had settled down after a lengthy talk and some shouting... Well, it wasn't every day a human turned into a Pooka now was it? Jack chuckled softly at the thought; Sophie was every bit like her brother in that regard, fighting for what she wanted and not letting anything stand in her way. Was it only a few years ago that Jamie had been chasing him so persistently despite everything? How many arguments had he had with Jamie before the incident that had led to the teen's death? Despite all of the rules about humans not being with spirits in that way and Jamie growing old and... the teen had just shot down each and every argument Jack could manage to find. Though, in the end, he didn't care anymore than Jamie had if they broke the rules. After 300 freakin' years of utter loneliness he deserved **some** happiness and rules be damned! Jack shook away the thoughts as he stopped pacing long enough to look at the orb, he didn't even know what they would look like and already he loved them. Would they have Jack or Jamie's eyes? What about hair color? Who would they take after on that score? It didn't matter. Jack already loved them, he settled next to the orb and wrapped his arms around it; laying his cheek against the alternately warm and cool surface and closed his eyes. He swore he felt the light of the two lives inside grow excited at his touch. He could already feel their unique signatures that they would have as spirits, they were growing so quickly! More quickly than he ever would have thought plausible; he let out a sigh that held both contentment and at the same time, a loneliness for the father of their children. Jack hadn't told a soul about what he had planned if things went wrong. He hoped beyond hope that it wouldn't come to that. Cripes, he had yet to tell the others that Sophie was supposed to come! Bunny wouldn't like this one bit... Jack grimaced a little, well, it couldn't be helped and now that she wasn't human at least she wouldn't be likely appetizing to the creature. He slowly stood, the orb tucked against his body and he snatched his staff from where it lay against the wall as he headed out in search of the two Pookas. It didn't take him long to find that Sophie was sitting in a training room, frowning as Bunny seemed to be scratching his head in confusion.

"What's going on?" Jack asked, looking from Sophie to Bunny.

"Well... most Pookas have a typ'a of spring magic... but Soph here can't even get a flower to bud."

"That is unusual I guess, but could she have some other power maybe?"

"It'd be rare... but ya."

"Is there a reason you're here Jack?" Sophie asked, one ear turned his direction while the other sort of flopped over as her way of tilting her head in curiosity without actually doing so.

"Yeah... I... um. I saw Jamie earlier."

"Ye what?!"

"Why isn't he here?! Is he okay?!" Sophie asked about the same time that Bunny burst out.

"Whoa! Calm down! First off... I didn't take the orb with me Bunny, I left it with Soph, if you hadn't noticed - before she became a rabbit." Bunny calmed down, satisfied that Jack hadn't completely lost it and taken the thing with him.

"Second, Jamie is fine and the only reason he isn't here is because of that... thing's magic. It's keeping him in a forest in Burgess." Bunny's ears drooped slightly, just as Sophie's had.

"Mate... you shouldn't torture yourself like this... even with what we know from Pitch. We don't know that it will work."

"It should. Jamie knows about it too, he said though that someone told him that he needed help."

"Help?" Jack shrugged.

"I guess more than one of us needs to say it in the presence of that creature."

"Yer lucky you weren't caught."

"No chance of that, it went off to feed a little while after I arrived." The two Pookas winced at that and Jack didn't blame them.

"Hey, why not hang out here for a while? Maybe help me figure out what my power is." Sophie said, she shot Bunny a look to keep the other Pooka from objecting. Bunny nodded almost too eagerly.

"Can't hurt, mate."

"Hmmm, I guess so." A sudden mischievous smile came to his face as he settled down against a nearby wall with the orb.

"What're you up to now mate?" Bunny asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Nothing, honest... I just thought it might be a little too much poetic justice if she turned out to have powers like mine." Bunny's eyes widened at the thought before the Pooka rolled his eyes.

"Real mature." Jack snickered and Sophie coughed to hide a smile. That _would_ be funny, but she didn't think Bunny would appreciate that she thought so. After five minutes of failing to perform any of the basic spells Bunny asked her to the Pooka sighed.

"Come on! Let her try!" Jack called from the wall.

"Fine, fine." Bunny grumbled and found a basic frosting spell. Jack wasn't sure what he felt when, like all the other spells, Sophie had failed to produce anything. Bunny seemed relieved, but also vastly puzzled. Apparently her powers weren't that of any seasonal, they'd tried a few others like with dreamsand that Sandy had allowed them to borrow but that wasn't it either. Hours later they'd exhausted nearly every book that North had that could help. Sophie decided to play with one of the eggs that Bunny had brought with him, she wasn't really paying attention to what she was doing with the egg; mostly rolling it about her paws and adding color to it every now and then so when the egg sprouted legs and walked off on its own, Jack stared.

"Hey guys..." Bunny looked up from yet another book and stared at where Jack was pointing. The egg that Sophie had been painting was dancing about on its new legs. Bunny nearly dropped the book he was holding and Sophie just stared.

"How did... how did ye do that love?" Bunny asked.

"I... I don't know. It just... just happened." The other Pooka frowned in thought. Things just didn't happen, her magic was obviously at play here... but what was it? The two seemed to just stare off into space again.

"Uh... guys... I don't mean to keep butting in but Sophie I think you need to rein it in before I'm buried here." Sophie blinked and it was only then suddenly that they realized there were dozens of the same exact egg running about the place.

"Oh crickey... I've never seen this before..." He stared in amazement.

"I think we might want to talk to the others." Jack said and Bunny nodded.

"Er... you two stay here, I'll be back." It took him only minutes to get the other Guardians to the training room, but what he found when they were there only astounded him more. Jack was sitting on top of a heap of snow and eggs were running everywhere.

"Jack!" North said, not happy as it was snowing in HIS workshop!

"Hey! It's not me! Honest!" He pointed to Sophie who seemed to be bounding around the room as she was trying to corral all the eggs into a single spot that she'd dug out of the foot of snow that was still coming down.

"Can't you do something?" Jack shook his head at North's question.

"Don't think I haven't tried... I donno about this sort of magic North, but it's pretty powerful. I've tried to get it to stop snowing four or five times already."

"Crickey! I was only gone a few minutes!" With the eggs in one place, Jack somehow managed to chase the snowing clouds outdoors and the yetis began to clean up what they could of the snow in the room. Sophie and the Guardians went to another room while clean up was being done in the training room.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make a mess!"

"Calm down, is no problem. Things happen when first learning." North assured her with a smile.

"What do ye all make of this? I ain't never seen anythin' like it."

"Me either." North replied.

"Well... there was that one spirit..." Tooth began, the others looked at her and she shook her head.

"Well, there's always been this spirit that calls himself Story and his whole purpose is to help keep belief alive by ensuring that stories don't completely die out or that new ones take their place. He had an uncanny knack of knowing things. Odd things, like he knew when a spirit would have good fortune before it happened... he even told me, a century or so ago, that there would be more than four Guardians and that it would happen quickly."

3 - 2

"What else he say?" North asked when Tooth paused a moment.

"Well... that's the strange thing. He once said to me this: When a darkness none can beat back alone, two shall rise to shine. One born of summer's ill-fate and another of spring's new life. With it shall rise the fables of old and what was forgotten in summers past shall again be told."

"That's the strangest thing I've ever heard." Sophie commented.

"Yeah, at the time I thought so too, but when what he started telling me became reality... I stopped taking what he told me for granted. I haven't spoken with him since before Jack became a Guardian though." The six sat in silence, each trying to puzzle out what the heck this spirit, Story, could have meant.

"Did he ever give you any straight answers?" Sophie asked after a moment.

"No, he always talked in some sort of rhyme. Just his nature I guess." It was a comfortable silence, but an hour later they went their separate ways to their various jobs and still no one had produced an answer to the "riddle." It didn't seem to be that important, however, as the final evening had begun to draw to a close and Sophie and Jack had retired to their respective rooms. Sophie slept, but Jack could not. He didn't really need it and even if he did his mind would not settle enough to let him relax. The winter spirit simply curled up on the bed, arms draped around the orb.

"You still worry too much." The familiar voice had Jack's head snap from where it rested on the orb. His eyes wide as Kari slipped into the room.

"H-how..."

"Let's just say Sandy knows you stress too much."

"So then... I'm dreaming?" He asked after a moment.

"Yes." Jack sighed, dream or no he managed a small smile for his friend.

"Why are you here?"

"To help. It's why I've always been here for you Jack." Jack shook his head, a sad smile flitting across his features.

"You can't really help this time. I have to face that creature, even you couldn't beat him."

"True, but it's not me whose destiny it is to face the Jabberwocky. I can help, Jack, but perhaps not in the way you wish I could."

"I see."

"I merely am here to answer your questions. You do have them, I know." Jack was silent a long moment before asking.

"Can we... can we really win? Do we stand a chance?"

"Only if Sophie goes with you."

"Why her?"

"She has her part to play, her fate is intertwined with her brother's in the moment of time to come. Do not underestimate her and do not underestimate the Jabberwocky." Jack nodded a little.

"Why? Why did this have to happen? Why Jamie?"

"That is a question for the fates. Even I do not have every answer you seek, but know this Jack. There is 'every purpose under heaven.'"

"Mark Twain..." Jack mulled over the quote even as she nodded.

"A bright man of his time."

"Tell me this then... why did you want me to ..." He struggled with the words.

"Ah, now that I can tell you." Her smile was soft as she moved towards him and settled next to him on the bed.

"Like all mortal families, mine had its share of problems; most of which were health problems. While you were away I began showing signs of something, signs that things weren't fine for me. I felt dizzy, sometimes so much so that I couldn't stand on my own two feet. I went to a doctor after I had a seizure; something I wasn't known to have ever had before and they found the cause. It was a rare disease and there was no cure. When I found this out, I knew that I couldn't torture Alex by living; it would have been a waking nightmare for him and everyone else. I remembered what you'd once told me after you'd woken from a terrible dream you were certain was Pitch's doing, despite the lack of sand. You had told me that you could be summoned to take the life of those who wished to die. I had no wish to die, what mortal - except those few who are driven to it - really does? I knew, however, it was for the best and I wanted it to be you."

"Why me?"

"Because I trusted you. I knew you could make it less painful than it would have been had I let it play out or tried to do it myself, not that I could do the lather. So... I got my affairs in order and came to Burgess with nothing more than all I needed to get there... I didn't even rent a car. I took a cab to Jamie's former home. I walked from there." Jack was quiet as he listened.

"I walked to the middle of the pond then and summoned you. I did not think that Jamie would come with you."

"I didn't either."

"I am sorry about the timing. I didn't know that he didn't know who you were, that he had forgotten just as you had when you died." Jack shrugged a little. She put her arms around him and laid her head against his shoulder as his arms tightened a little around the orb.

"Please believe me when I say that it will be okay. I can't tell you the future, but you have trusted me in the past. Do so now and have faith." He seemed to struggle then, internally. Have faith? Faith in what exactly? In her? In the others? To have faith that everything would turn out okay just like in fairy tales? He wasn't sure and it was a long moment before he realized he was crying and let the orb go. She didn't hesitate to enfold the winter spirit in her arms much as she had done on a few occasions when she had been alive; Jack barely even registered that she was as warm now as she had been then, he let himself go and she was simply quiet as she had been in the past. She was there for him, to help him even beyond her own death; what had he ever done to deserve such a friend? The next thing Jack knew was that the sunlight was streaming into the room; it was the last day and he felt better than he had since Jamie had been kidnapped. He glanced around and couldn't help but smile a little when a few strands of golden sand fell from his hair and onto the floor.

"Thanks Sandy." He whispered, not knowing how his fellow Guardian had known, but grateful nonetheless. He pulled the orb close to his chest, smiling a little at it as he stood before he retrieved his staff and made his way to the room he knew was where Jamie's mother was staying. He rapped lightly on the door, almost immediately he got an answer. Without a word he held out the orb to her; it would be safe with her while they dealt with the threat. There was no doubt in his mind about this. She gently took it from him with a soft smile, her eyes seemed a little worried though.

"Take care of my babies for me." Jack nodded. He knew that she was talking about Jamie and Sophie, her children.

"I'll make sure they come back safe. No matter what the cost." The determination in the winter spirit's eyes and the conviction with which he spoke was enough to sent relief coursing through her. Of course her old friend would protect her children, hadn't he always done so when they had been younger? She knew that she could trust him with them, just as he was trusting her with her grandchildren.

"They'll be back here soon." She didn't frown, but the flicker he saw in her eyes made him realize she'd caught his choice of words; caught that he hadn't said that he'd be returning with them.

"And you?" His smile faded, his expression serious.

"The fates will decide that. I meant what I said."

"Of that I have no doubt, but don't do something that isn't necessary beyond a doubt. I don't think my son could live with himself if you did."

"He will." Came the reply. He couldn't make that promise; he couldn't promise that he wouldn't be taking Jamie's place when the beast found out that he wasn't going to sacrifice the children and that he had brought the others with him. He turned about before she could say anything more and he floated of to the sleigh. Bunny was sitting in the sleigh, nervous because he hated flying but Sophie seemed to have calmed him down mostly as she was distracting him with quiet conversation. Jack tilted his head at the two. He'd never seen anyone so easily calm the Pooka before and he wondered, was it because it was Sophie or because Sophie was another Pooka now? He shook the thoughts away as he joined his fellow Guardians in the sleigh.

"All ready now?" North asked and glanced to see that everyone was settled before snapping the reins. Bunny steeled himself as the sleigh looped around, avoiding a patch of deadly ice that had been on the floor of the cavern before they shot out and were in the air. Jack felt his heart racing, part of it from the thrill of riding in the sleigh, but he knew it was mostly due to the fact that they were about to have a showdown with the Jabberwocky at his pond. Why was it all the turning points in Jack's life seemed to revolve around that pond? It had been where he'd died, where he'd been reborn as Jack Frost, where he'd seen Pitch beaten and dragged off by his own minions, the site where he'd taken the oath to be a Guardian, had been the place he'd made so many memories with Jamie... and then Jamie had died in that pond too... It had also been the place where he'd taken the life of the friend he'd found during those years he'd struggled with Jamie's death. Now here he was again, heading back to the pond; this time to face down a creature unlike any other. They went through one of North's portals, as Jack expected they would, cutting the travel time down to mere minutes and Jack climbed from the sleigh, shaking a little and feeling a little queasy. What if things didn't go as planned? What if the creature managed to get to them all and devoured each and every one of them? Jack knew he shouldn't be thinking such things, especially not now but he couldn't help it; there were just so many things that could go wrong.

3 - 3

Before Jack could consider what else could go wrong, the creature appeared with Jamie nearby.

"Jamie." Jack hadn't even noticed that he'd spoken as he sought the eyes of his beloved. Jamie seemed calm, despite the impending doom and Jack couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. Jamie was as fearless now as a Guardian should be, even in the face of a second death, he looked about ready to do whatever needed to be done. Jack wished he could feel as calm as Jamie looked to be. Taking a deep breath, he moved forward with the Guardians and Sophie. The group fanned out a bit to face the creature.

"I see you've decided to not bring what I asked." It said and Sophie's ears flattened a little against her head, her eyes flashing with anger.

"Like we'd feed the innocent to a monster like you!"

"Spirited, that one." Its ruby eyes glanced over to Sophie before returning to Jack.

"So then, come to watch him die?"

"No. I've come to get him from you and send you back to the depths of whatever hole you've crawled out of." Jack retorted, Jamie watched his love; how he loved watching how the winter spirit's eyes could darken at times with the intensity of emotion. He wondered what it was that Jack had in mind; after all, how did they expect to fight against this creature?

"So, you oppose me? Well, we'll see how long that lasts." The Guardians charged forward only to be met by wolves, it was a quick fight and rather a sort of disappointing one as the wolves were no match for the Guardians. Crippled from the fight, they backed down and whimpered like tame dogs behind the Jabberwocky.

"Very good Guardians. I suppose I should deal with you myself." Before anyone could move the beast opened its mouth and began to sing a wordless tune. The Guardians were stuck fast, held by the will of the Jabberwocky.

"Crickey! What sort of magic is this!?"

"Let go foul beast!" North roared.

"You better release us or-" Even Tooth's threat seemed to fall on deaf ears and Jack struggled against the magic, but it seemed that it was no use. For all the power he'd gained, he was still helpless against this creature who was now moving towards Jamie with an open mouth, intent on devouring the summer spirit.

"No! You leave my brother alone!" Sophie cried and leapt forward. Everyone's eyes wide, why wasn't she being affected to? She wasn't a Guardian, she was just a spirit...

"HOW?!" The voice of the Jabberwocky boomed, though its power kept the five Guardians in place despite that it had stopped singing. Jamie lurched forward as the Jabberwock lunged at his sister with deadly speed. He would not let her be hurt! It never occurred in his mind that it was odd that he too seemed to be able to move. Anyone who is familiar with the oldest of tales among humans would understand what was happening here, but then again when one is faced with the determination of the moment to protect what is so precious and dear to them, such tales and their lessons slip the mind. Sophie froze as she saw the creature raise a claw to swipe at her, but said claw was met with a staff; it was made of oak and shone with the brilliant brown of a healthy tree in summer. It looked a lot like Jack's actually, except that instead of frost covering its middle, four green leaves were were wrapped about it tightly and there were carvings all over of the sun. In the center of the crook a light that looked like a miniature sun show and shoved the creature back. It let out a mangled cry of both distress and confusion.

What was this power that had suddenly risen to keep it from its intended target? Why was it so bright?! Sophie smiled a little at her brother who seemed puzzled at first before he smiled back; even as a Pooka he recognized in her eyes his little sister.

"You've changed. You're going to have to tell me all about it when this is over." She nodded and turned her attention to the threat before them.

"It's time we send this creature back where it came!" She held a book in one paw, the book had come just as the staff had and it glowed softly with its own light that was more pure than anything ever seen before.

"There was one thing that shall ever be your bane!" Jamie said with a grin and the two siblings grinned at one another before they shouted at the creature in unison, as if having read one another's thoughts.

"Go back to your home, be slain with a snicker-snack!" The Jabberwocky's eyes widened in surprise and it opened its mouth to scream but it simply seemed to wink out of existence, as if it had never been. With the creature gone, the Guardians were released from the magic and they rushed over to the two; talking excitedly. Jack admiring Jamie's new staff while Bunny was ruffling Sophie's fur with a proud look on his features as he looked at the book she held that no longer was glowing. The moonlight seemed to cast down upon them all and a voice that the Guardians had not heard in a very long time, spoke to them and silenced them; they all looked up in silent reverence.

**They who have come into their own... Jamie Summers and Sophie Fable... Be known to your fellow Guardians as you join them. The Guardian of Summer and Belief, The Guardian of Fables and Wishes.**

The moonlight faded and the Guardians stared at their new comrades before they began chattering excitedly again. Tooth about how this must have been what the riddle had meant. North about how happy he was to have new editions to the team. Sandy, of course, was quiet as ever and Bunny just grinned as he seemed to glow with happiness and pride. Jack was also quiet, but for a different reason. He was happy for Jamie and a little worried at the same time. Being a Guardian was dangerous business, but he wasn't too concerned; Jamie had proven he could handle himself after all and Sophie... well, she'd have a lot to learn but he was pretty sure she wouldn't have anything to worry about.

"We should return to pole. Is night to celebrate!" North boomed over most of the chatter and they fell silent, grinning and nodding in agreement. This was a night to celebrate. In no time at all, they'd all bundled into the sleigh and were on their way back to the pole. Bunny had an arm around Sophie, who lay her head against his shoulder during the ride and Jack had laid his head against Jamie's shoulder; still not quite able to believe it had really been so simple to be rid of that menace. That Jamie was safe again and at his side, where he should be.

Jack could only think about how relieved he was that nothing had gone too wrong. He swore his heart had about stopped when he'd been unable to move and that thing had moved towards Jamie to eat him...

He'd wanted to scream out the; to rage at the thing and pluck every feather from it for even thinking of hurting his Jamie. Jamie held Jack close to him, one hand threading through the snowy hair. He'd looked calm, outwardly, ready to accept his death but he'd be lying if he said his heart hadn't clenched when he'd seen the helpless outrage in Jack's blue eyes. Jack snuggled closer and Jamie could only smile and relax for the first time in three days. Everything was okay now; it was hard to believe, but they had done it. They'd won despite the odds. Jamie felt content and would have been perfectly happy if the ride hadn't ended, but it had. Jack climbed out one side with Jamie and Tooth while Bunny, Sophie, and Sandy climbed out the other.

"Prepare feast for party!" North cried happily at a nearby yeti who warbled at him and went to spread the word. When they all reached the lounge they were greeted by a large buffet of food and drink and Jamie's mother.

"What's all this about?" She asked, but smiled when she saw Jamie with Jack even as North answered.

"Is celebration for victory and for new Guardians!" She glanced from Jamie to the Guardian of Wonder.

"Okay, that needs explaining." Tooth fluttered over to fill her in while Jack took the orb from her so she could hug Jamie. She did just that for a long moment before stepping back from her eldest child.

"This is a lot to take in, why didn't you come to see me sooner?"

"Ah, well, I had to sort out my memories first, mom and the first few times I visited only Sophie was home. Speaking of sophie." He turned from her to his now-Pooka sister.

"I know the why, my question is when and when were you planning on telling mom about him?" Sophie's ears twitched a little in a nervous fidget.

"I kinda told her a year ago actually ... er sorta."

"Sorta?"

"Well I didn't tell her that he was a six foot rabbit or the spirit of Easter..." Jamie's expression was one of pure amusement.

"And your excuse for ditching your human life?" Jack couldn't stop grinning as he watched his in-laws. Finding it endlessly amusing seeing his love interrogate his own sister.

"I told her he didn't live in the states... What? Why is this so funny?! I swear you've been hanging around Jack too long!" Jamie and Jack shared a look before both chuckled.

"So, sis, I take it you'll be joining Bunny in the Warren?" Bunny's ears stood straight up at that. Sophie eyed her brother suspiciously. Jamie smirked.

"Like I wouldn't guess what you've been up to sis. Ever since I just hinted at a transformation spell being possible years ago." Bunny and Sophie turned a dark shade of red beneath their fur and Jack had to clutch his staff to keep from falling over as he burst out laughing.


	4. Chapter 4

4 - 1

"Oh give your sister a break Jamie." Their mother called over to them as she piled some food on a plate from the buffet she'd moved over to.

"Hey, all's fair in love and war and you didn't hear what came out of HER mouth half the time when you weren't around! Heck, she burst in on one of our make-out sessions early on in our relationship, only fair." Jamie called back, causing the woman to shake her head. Sophie rolled here eyes and the four of them joined the rest in piling food on plates before settling down to eat in various places about the room. Sophie and Bunny sat closest to the fire to keep warm while Jack and Jamie lounged on a bean bag with the orb safely between them, fingers interlocked while their other hand was used to get food or a drink intermittently. Sandy hovered near a yeti at the end of the table where a yeti was supplying him with eggnog, the Bennett's mother was sitting next to North in a plush green chair while North was in a red one on one side of the room. Tooth hovered nearby, chatting easily with the two of them as she ate her choice of food. Jamie could hardly believe it, he'd finally come into his own powers full and so had his sister, and even more than that they'd both been named Guardians by MiM! Jamie had to admit that this all seemed like a dream and was too good to be true. He felt a small fear, a nagging doubt that any of this was real. That maybe it was just a dream and he'd wake up back in his room, alone or worse... back in the clutches of the Jabberwocky. Being alone in his room, alive, wouldn't be so bad, but being back as a prisoner to that monster and knowing that heart-wrenching decision Jack would be forced to make... that was too much. Jamie shook it from his mind and mouthed 'later' at Jack's quizzical look. Jack nodded, whatever was bothering Jamie he obviously didn't want to speak of it around the others and ruin the evening. Tonight was a night for celebration after all and it was one that went on for hours, with North occasionally toasting the new Guardians and their success. Later that evening, Jack and Jamie retired to their room with the orb, not so much because they were tired, but because they knew that they had things that would need doing and they really just wanted some alone time with one another before the dawn of the next day.

"What's up?" Jack asked once the door to their room was closed.

"I just, feel like this is all a dream, you know?" Jamie said as he moved to sit on the bed.

"Like I'm going to wake up at any moment and things will be what they were before... or I'll be back in my room again, alive and alone..." He trailed off as Jack set the orb on the bed. He went over to Jamie and put his hands on the teen's shoulders after settling the orb safely in the blanket.

"I know, but I've never really left you. I will _always_ be here for you Jamie. You just have to believe in me." Familiar laughter rang out and sent dread shivering in the two spirits. They both knew that sound, the voice that called out.

"Oh, how touching, but aren't you forgetting something Frost?"

"Come out coward!" Jamie growled, one arm clutching Jack around the waist, keeping him close; the orbe just in reach for Jack, but Jack didn't reach for it. Pitch materialized out of the shadows.

"Can't have you making a promise you can't keep. Wouldn't want to lie to him would you?" Jack stared at Pitch mutely, wondering why the shade even cared. The deal. He HAD forgotten it in the celebration and the relief of things going so well, until now.

"Jack... what's he talking about?"

"Really now Jack, keeping secrets?"

"I'm not!" Jack snapped, his eyes on Pitch because he couldn't face Jamie.

"I just... forgot..."

"Forgot?" Jamie asked quietly.

"Yeah... I... made a deal with Pitch in order to get the information from him we needed." Jamie stared at Jack in shock. He'd... he'd done **what**?! Pitch just smirked at the boy's expression before speaking again.

"Jack promised to spend five years with me. No questions asked." Jamie was silent before his glare at the shade turned into hatred and outrage. How DARE he demand such a thing!

"You sneaky son of a -"

"Ah, ah. Not in front of the children." Pitch interrupted.

"Screw you." Jamie shot back, seething.

"A deal is a deal, Summers. I'm just here to collect. See you in five years... or perhaps sooner." Jack had only time to let out a yelp as he fell through a shadow that had slid beneath him; he and Pitch leaving Jamie to cry out in rage and disbelief. When the Guardians arrived to see what had riled up their newest member, only Sophie was shocked when he'd explained what had happened. Their faces said more than words could.

"You... You KNEW! Didn't you?!" He said accusingly as his eyes flickered from each of the Guardians, excluding his sister, going from one to the next.

"Of course we knew! Jack insisted!" Nort said suddenly.

"Why didn't you stop him?!"

"We tried Jamie, we really did but..." Tooth said, trailing off.

"Nothin' we said would change his mind mate. We're sorry we couldn't stop him, but he knew what he was doin'" Bunny said and the others nodded, save Sophie. Jamie gave them all a look that said simply 'Get Out.' They did without another word. Jamie paced, there was NO way he was leaving Jack with Pitch for five years. Not that Jack was helpless, far from it actually and that was what Jamie worried about because he knew Pitch had wanted Jack on his side those years before, but what did he want now? It wasn't like he could get Jack on his side now and he had nothing to gain for it. Jamie shuddered, not because of the cold breeze from the open window, but of the dark reasons his own mind came up with as to why Pitch would ask Jack to be with him for five years. It couldn't be anything good, Jamie at least knew that much for certain.

Jack hit the ground, but not hard; much to his surprise, his grip on his staff tightened as his mind whirled with unspoken fears. Not of Pitch himself, but of what the shade meant to **do** and the consequences of what such things were.

"Mmm... your fear is delicious Jack." Pitch purred, unseen from the shadows all around.

"What what an imagination you have!" Jack scrambled to his feet, eyes darting about the lair for his enemy. Pitch moved towards him, Jack instinctively swung his staff forward to protect himself. Pitch frowned at the sight but then smiled and that just made Jack all the more nervous.

"Let's get one thing straight here Frost. I don't intend to fight you. That would defeat the entire purpose of getting you here." Jack's eyes narrowed, but he slowly lowered his staff after a long moment when he realized nothing was going to attack him. Not Pitch and not the Nightmares that seemed to be creeping along the various normal shadows.

"How can I be sure you won't hurt me even if you don't intend to fight?" Jack asked, watching Pitch suspiciously.

"I suppose you can't be." Pitch replied after a moment with a smirk. Jack frowned. Pitch was playing with him, he was certain but he could feel his dark thoughts receding. Pitch had never said what he wanted of Jack and hadn't Bunny been the one to jump to conclusions? The Nightmare King was a force to be reckoned with, for certain, but that didn't mean that the Boogeyman was going to do what Jack's fears were telling him. Pitch had seemed to be amused by that at the time, but perhaps it was just that... He had likely been feeding off the fear and other feelings that the others had felt at what Bunny had voiced, just like he was likely doing now with Jack.

"You seem to have a better handle on your fear now. Tell me, Jack, why is that?"

"Unfounded fear is useless. It doesn't help, only hinders."

"Hmph." There was a moment of silence and Pitch turned.

"Follow me. I will show you where you will stay during your time here." Jack raised an eyebrow, still suspicious, but he followed the shade. There was no reason for Pitch to lie to him and, if he was honest with himself, the other spirit never had. Yes, he'd twisted situations to suit his own needs, but he'd been nothing but honest. Jack couldn't help but wonder if there was any sort of humanity in Pitch, the other had been sincere at Antarctica those years ago. He'd seen the vulnerability in the shade's eyes; eyes that, he'd realized, were more silver than gold. Much as he'd like to think that Pitch was just a selfish monster, he knew that wasn't entirely true. There was more to Pitch than what he'd simply seen when he'd fought with the Guardians against him and more than what he'd seen in Antarctica, he was sure. There was just something that seemed to be... different. Pitch wasn't hurting him, didn't seem to want to. Jack was still suspicious about what this meant and what he'd seen in the arctic. It could have been a trap back then, but something in him told him that he could trust Pitch to be true to his word.

4 - 2

Jamie spent his time in North's library, hugging the orb with one hand while he scoured the library for information; if any place had information that would help get Jack back, Jamie thought that it would be in North's library. After all, there was no library more expansive than the one that North had, at least not in concerns of things that mattered in the realm of the spirits. He'd gone through most of the laws that governed the spirits and sighed because he hadn't found anything that could be a loophole. North came in and saw the boy pouring over yet another book before slamming it closed with a sigh.

"Is frustrating, I know." Jamie looked up wearily at the Guardian of Wonder.

"Is why no spirit ever say such words. Giving word is like signing contract." Jamie nodded, that nicely summed up all he'd found.

"We can't just not do anything. **I** can't just not do anything, especially not after all the trouble you all went through just to stop it... to be there for me." North nodded, he understood what drove Jamie, if not his heart really. Love was a complicated thing and very few spirits outside the fae ever dabbled in such because it was so dangerous a thing. As wonderful as it was, it was fraught with the ever-lingering danger of always having someone who could be used against you.

"We want to help Jamie. Truly, but not much we can do." Jamie sighed a little then just as he was about to reach for another book, which he knew didn't hold an answer anymore than the last probably did, he paused.

"You know... maybe there is someone else who can..." Jamie said slowly. His hand dropped and he turned his eyes back to North.

"Where can I find Sandy?"

"Is hard to get hold of sometime, but try this. He usually answer call." North handed Jamie a small hourglass. Jamie looked at the tiny thing then back up to North.

"Just shake and wait." Jamie nodded, doing as he had been told and when he looked back up North was gone. Well, he could only wait now. He decided he'd had enough of books, it was time that he talked to someone who had said they were there to help; he just hoped that this worked. He left the books where they were and went back to the room he'd shared with Jack just hours ago. He couldn't help but sigh when he shut the door, but it didn't shut all the way, just part of the way really; he didn't feel up to shutting it completely. What was the point? He settled the orb onto the bed and curled himself around it. It wasn't long after that, that Jamie began to drift off; he was more than happy when he found himself in a dream; he was at Jack's pond though. It was beautiful, the forest was covered in frost and the sun glinted along it, making it sparkle like nothing that Jamie had ever seen in real life.

"Beautiful, no?" Jamie turned and grinned at the figure he saw, though he raised an eyebrow when he realized she was draped in a brown robe that reminded him a lot of a popular movie series.

"Yeah, it is."

"This is the beautiful side of dreams, my friend. What's with the look?"

"Nothing, you just look like a..." He trailed off when he saw the grin and she shrugged.

"I was a fan and I dabbled in their morals so yeah. Besides, here you can be anything. Do almost anything."

"Ah... as nice as this place is. I was hoping to meet up with you." She nodded a little.

"I'm aware of that actually." Jamie raised an eyebrow, this time in surprise. Kari chuckled.

"Hard not to know when you summoned Sandy. He and I keep in touch... after all, he makes dreams, not hard to even from the other side."

"So... there are dreams on the other side?" Jamie asked, curiosity bubbling in him. He wished he knew more about her. About who she'd been before she'd asked Jack to take her final breath from her.

"No, no need, but let's just say the other side allows for more freedom in movement than the living world does. Even beyond what spirits like you and Jack have."

"Speaking of Jack..." Jamie trailed off, where did he begin?

He didn't need say anything more though as she nodded.

"I'm well aware of what has happened to Jack."

"How?"

"Ah... that's something I can't tell you. Again, secret of the other side."

"I see... so, you understand then why I need your help?"

"I do, but it's not really you who needs help in this matter." Jamie blinked.

"What do you mean?"

"A long time ago, a man who lived among the stars even before the first man walked the Earth, made history. As much as the Bible would like us to think that man was the first intelligent creature... we never were. It's only so right since it was made by a fallible creature to begin with... that creature being man. Though there are many truths in it, there are many things that aren't true as well. While yes, the creation story IS right, there were others before humans. This man, human in appearance, lived in a place where soldiers didn't serve because they chose to, but because fate had chosen them from birth. They were born with gold in their eyes. Other than that feature, they were no different from you and me, except that the enemy that they fought was not like them, it was the darkness. Fearlings, Nightmare Men; an enemy that sought nothing but to feed off fear and cause destruction wherever it went. It fed off others and turned once pure souls into corruption... making those souls one of them... it was the only way they survived." She paused a moment to let this sink in before going on. The two of them walking through the forest towards the frozen pond.

"Even the one who is possessed by what few of the species that survives today does not know the origin of them, they do not know themselves either."

"You do, don't you?"

"It is irrelevant, but yes. In any case, he who is possessed by them now didn't accept them willingly. He has been alive for so long that he has lost most of who he had once been."

"You're talking about Pitch, aren't you?" Kari nodded.

"Very good Jamie. I am."

"Then... he was... ?"

"Yes. Once upon a time, before Earth was populated by God by humans, Pitch's former identity was a good man who fought a long and hard battle. He was tasked to watch what remained of his enemy that wasn't executed."

"Were they that stupid?" Kari was silent a long time and Jamie wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. Had he offended her?

"I would not say they were stupid. Ill-prepared, perhaps and ignorant of what it would take to ensure that the Shadows would not again roam the universe. They relied too much on a single man who would be expected to spend the rest of his natural life keeping the enemy locked up. An eternity, to many of sound mind, of listening to whispers; of dark promises that they could fulfill if only he would let them out."

"He listened to them... didn't he?"

"Yes and no."

"Huh?" She smiled a little as they stopped before the pond.

"He was tricked by them. In a moment of weakness, which is a common thing among all mortal things... and even some immortals too; he thought that his daughter... the one thing that mattered to him most, was trapped in the cell with the Shadows. He wasn't thinking straight. He rushed to unlock the cell to get her out of there, knowing better than anyone just what the Shadows could do to a person." Jamie was silent and for a moment there was some silence between them before she went on again.

"It wasn't his fault. Once he opened the cell door they possessed him and the one you know as Pitch was born... but not. You see, the Nightmare King, as he became known across the universe as, had no memories of his former life because of the Shadows that pushed down his mortal mind and used him like a puppet for a great many years. When Pitch finally became self-aware again... he had done unspeakable things... or his body had. The home he'd once known was gone, destroyed by his hands and the family he had once had... well, their fate was to be unknown by him. Pitch assumed the worst, when he came to it was some time after he'd awoken and all he knew was fear and hatred. A hatred for the Man in the Moon, for those who fought with him and the need to feed off fear from humans; by then, men were starting to venture across the lands. It was the Dark Ages... and Pitch wielded a great deal of power from the fear of humans, almost being his original self; he didn't scare people, however, because he wanted to. He found himself being driven to do so by the Shadows he commanded. At least, he thinks he commands them; in truth he is still only a tool that they use to get what they want. Fear."

"Fear keeps them alive?"

"Yes, it is all that does. Unlike on other planets, the Shadows were weaker here than they had been among the stars and so giving nightmares to humans was all they could manage. They could not kill or otherwise harm a human. On Earth, they will never be able to unless the Guardians fail. Jack kept that from happening the night that he met you." Jamie's eyes went wide and she couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, that very night. You and the others played a very vital role. The world would be a very different place now if you had not interfered."

4 - 3

"You said that I'm not the one who needs help... are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Perhaps. I can't read your mind, that would be rude anyway. What do you think I'm saying?"

"That... that it's Pitch who needs help."

"Correct."

"How?"

"That will be up to you... you and Jack. Know this though, as long as you are with Pitch it will be difficult to find me. I can find you, if need be, but be certain only to attempt to do so if you really need me. I can fend off the Shadows fine in this realm, but you, on the other hand, are more vulnerable here than in the waking world." Jamie wasn't sure he understood but he figured he could trust her with that; she did know more about this dream world, for lack of a better word for it, than he did.

"The sun is rising now Jamie. You must decide what you will do."

"I have to help Jack." It was all he managed before he found himself waking up. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to help Pitch or if the shade would even allow him to get close, but he felt that he was likely the only one among the Guardians now who'd be willing to try. After all, he knew more about Pitch now than likely they did... or if they knew they didn't think that Pitch could change. That the shade didn't need help and was only an enemy they'd been fighting since they had first become Guardians. That had been what they had been created for after all, to protect the children against Pitch and his Shadows. Jamie looked at the orb as he uncurled himself around it; was it just him or had it grown since he'd last looked at it? Oh well, it didn't matter. He flew through the North Pole before he found North, who was inspecting a doll a yeti was sewing.

"North!" The Guardian turned at his call.

"Jamie! Is good to see you up!"

"Can I borrow a snow globe?"

"Of course! Take two, just in case." The Guardian pulled out two from a pocket and handed them to Jamie who grinned.

"Thanks!"

"Is no problem!" Jamie didn't hesitate to shake one.

"The Warren." He said to it and colored eggs formed in the globe before he tossed it; it shattered on its own in mid-air and Jamie darted through it. He didn't have time to feel disoriented before he found himself hovering over a river of dye. As much as he felt the urge to explore, he needed to find his sister and he had no doubt she was here with Bunny. The two were actually sitting beneath a tree that had only green leaves on it, Jamie briefly wondered what it was for before he saw the two were enjoying a vegetarian picnic. Well, his sister was a bunny now...

"Soph!" She turned and was grinning at him as he flew towards the two Pookas.

"Hey, what's up Jamie?" She asked.

"Can you two look after the kids for a while? I've got something I need to do... I promise I'll be back before they're born but... this is going to likely take a while."

"Whoa, hold up mate. You aren't going to do anything dangerous now are you?" Bunny asked.

"I don't think so. In fact... pretty sure I'll be okay." Bunny gave him a funny look that Jamie could only interpret as possible suspicion. He wasn't going to just blurt out though that he was going to Pitch's lair. That wouldn't go over well with anyone.

"I've got some things to do and I'm not taking my kids with me. They're safest with a Guardian than anything, but I'd rather they stay in one of the homes." Bunny nodded a little and seemed to relax.

"Sure." Jamie handed over the orb to his sister and prayed that this wouldn't get him killed... or worse.

Jack couldn't say he liked the room that Pitch had provided him with, even after he'd added some frost to it. Thing was, he knew why he didn't like it; because Jamie wasn't here, it wasn't a place he could ever feel safe in. Even with Pitch's word that he wasn't there to fight Jack, he hadn't promised to not hurt him and Jack was leery, if anything, of his foe. There wasn't a door to the room either so it wasn't like Jack could come and go as he pleased. Had Pitch had any interest in taking from Jack what he wouldn't give willingly... well, there wouldn't be a whole lot Jack could do about it. He sat on the bed with a sinking feeling in his heart. He was a prisoner here. There was no doubt about that, but what _did_ the shade want? Pitch hadn't said a word about what he'd wanted from him. In fact, he'd not answered Jack's question at all. He'd only put him in a room. There wasn't any bars or anything and the room was just a simple bedroom with a bed that had black sheets on it; though the lack of the door made the room seem anything but normal aside from the fact that the walls were made of solid rock. Jack wondered a moment if he could use his ice to burrow out of the room then thought better of it. He had made a deal after all and he had to keep his word, like it or not. Jack was pretty sure he wasn't going to like anything that Pitch had him do, but at least the Boogeyman seemed civil... He hadn't tossed Jack into one of the many cages or anything similar. Jack had to wonder why, he considered what little he knew of the shade and none of this seemed to fit. Was there maybe more to Pitch than any of the Guardians had told him? Well, okay, none of them had actually talked to him about Pitch and he'd never really asked, but none of his encounters with the dark spirit had been anywhere near pleasant... although the thing at Antarctica had partly been his fault since he'd attacked Pitch first while the other had only come to talk and had defended himself at every turn without really attacking Jack. He hadn't really noticed it at the time, but the only time Pitch had truly attacked him had been after he'd broken Jack's staff... Jack's grip on the staff tightened. He had no intention of relieving that. Sure, the staff wasn't the source of his power... but it meant a lot to him and it had hurt something fierce when Pitch had snapped the thing like a twig. It was like Pitch had blindsided him with a semi or something like it... The staff was a part of him as much as his center was a part of who he was. Granted, he could do plenty without his staff; he'd been practicing since that Easter, but he didn't like to be without it. He'd done that training off in secret too, far away from the other Guardians; not because he didn't trust them but because he didn't want them raising questions about why he was doing it. They still didn't know exactly what had happened at Antarctica, but mostly because they hadn't asked and he'd skimmed the details on that one when explaining it when they had been going over the events one evening, just before they had split off back to their respective jobs.

Jamie had to wonder if he was desperate, considering the advice he'd just gotten. HELP Pitch? What the heck was he thinking?! Then again it hadn't been his idea, but he still wondered if it was possible. Some part of him must have thought so because he found himself staring at the dark hole in the forest floor, just beyond Jack's pond and he wondered once more if this was as nuts as it sounded as he dropped into the hold. It was a shorter trip than he thought really, it was also everything Jack had described. Dark, creepy and strangely a little like a certain famous painting except with walkways instead of stairs. Empty cages hung from the ceiling and Jamie inspected them all; he half expected to find Jack in one, but was surprised all were as empty as they had looked when he'd entered. Not wanting to call attention to himself, Jamie floated through the various twisting corridors and rooms; he was certain at one point that he was hopelessly lost, but they'd jump that hurdle when it became necessary to.

"Well, well, I'd have cleaned up the place if I had known to expect company." The sound of Pitch's voice made Jamie jump, this corridor was dark and spooky enough without Pitch doing THAT. Jamie almost smacked his head on the ceiling from shooting up into the air in surprise.

"Forgive me, did I scare you?" Delight written on the shade's face as he emerged. Jamie rolled his eyes and bit back a retort as he hovered; he wasn't here to start a fight. Pitch frowned a little when the summer spirit remained silent. He had hoped to get a rise out of him as Jack seemed too passive all of the sudden which was uncharacteristic of the winter spirit.

"Nothing to say? You're fun Summers. A little contradictory really, isn't your season _all_ about fun?" This time Jamie frowned.

"Yeah, but I'm not the _Guardian_ of Fun."

"Oh yes, you've recently come up in the world haven't you? Tell me, _Guardian_... What would you do if the person you loved most stopped believing in you?"

"That won't work Pitch."

"Oh yes, because you're only afraid of fear itself, right? Don't try and lie. I always know people's greatest fears and yours is that nothing of these past years has been real. That Jack really doesn't love you and this whole thing, right up to this very **moment**," Pitch gestured around him with a knowing smile.

"is nothing but a fantasy. A dream conjured up by your desperate mind to fill the lonely years... Those years." His voice was calm now as he regarded Jamie as if they were talking of the weather.

"You fear you'll be left alone. That all this happiness isn't real at all and you'll just wake up back where you started. Alone and hurting, no Guardians, no children to protect. No Jack." Jamie's eyes went wide, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I'd offer you to join me but we both know what the answer to that question is, if you can even believe that you're here right now. In my home of all places." Pitch chuckled with amusement, the boy's fear spiked - oh what a delicious fear it was!

"How ironic that the so-called-Guardian of Belief doesn't even believe himself!" Pitch all but crowed and Jamie flinched. His belief in the Guardians had never wavered, but with all his memories restored he still felt echoes of loneliness that had happened years before. Jack had explained his absence in those years and Jamie understood or had tried to really, but a part of him still doubted that Jack had really opened up to him in the last few years before his death. That the 11 years he'd been out of Jack's life had changed the winter spirit. How could he know what had happened then?


	5. Chapter 5

5 - 1

Jack hadn't told him really, yes he'd spent the last 10 of those 11 years looking for Jamie on a hunch and dream of a Mortal Guardian, but would Jack have ever sought him out if she hadn't been there? Would Jack have just given up on him? He didn't know the answers and not knowing ate at him. He knew he should be over this by now, but... Even as an immortal his heart was still human. Jamie landed on a nearby walkway. This wasn't happening... he wasn't panicking in front of Pitch... He felt his heart throb painfully and he closed his eyes. He hadn't come here for this... He took a slow, painful breath and another; he could do this... He continued to breathe, blocking out the sound of the Boogeyman's victorious laughter as much as possible. He took another deep breath, he was anything but calm when his eyes snapped open again to meet Pitch's silver and gold gaze.

"I didn't come here to face my fears... but maybe I should if only to show you what could be." Pitch gave the boy a strange look. What was the summer spirit talking about? He watched the boy suspiciously as he closed his eyes and a curious thing happened. The carvings on the spirit's staff began to glow softly and steadily like a heartbeat. Pitch frowned, what did this mean? Jamie didn't notice, he was too focused on his memories of Jack, of all the fun times they'd had in the snow when he'd been alive, both as a child and as a young adult. He needed to believe in Jack; believe that what they had was real even if it all was just a dream. Jack wouldn't lie to him, ever. So what if he wasn't always open? Jamie loved Jack and Jack loved him back, that was all that really mattered and hadn't Jack shared his fears with Jamie? Shared the part of his heart that he'd been afraid of more than even fire? When Jamie opened his eyes again his lips were curved in a soft smile.

"H-how is this possible?! You're supposed to fear me!"

"I've no reason to fear you and I believe in what Jack has given me, if nothing else and that's all that matters."

"Just what has Frost given you that could do such?" Pitch was appalled that Jamie could so easily shrug off his deepest fears just like that. This boy... could he be even more powerful than Jack?

"His heart." Came the simple reply and Pitch growled, he should have known. Should have guessed it was true love between the two, because nothing less than it would be able to inspire anyone to face their own fears like that, to find courage.

"I don't get you Summers. Do you have a point to make?" Pitch growled, trying to hid his own fears of this boy that seemed to suddenly rise up from the back of his mind.

"Courage. It isn't the absence of fear, but the will to do what needs to be done in spite of fear." Pitch frowned. Jack had said something similar to him not long ago. What the heck?!

"You don't have to just make kids fear you."

"You're starting to sound like Frost." The smile on Jamie's face spread at the mention of Jack, which irked Pitch more.

"I bet she told him that too... or maybe he thought it up himself." Jamie replied thoughtfully.

"Her? You can't possibly mean..." He trailed off with a scowl and Jamie raised his eyebrows, waiting for the shade to finish. Pitch turned from the boy, feeling irritation begin to bubble just beneath the surface. It couldn't be... could it?

"Up until recently there was a human pest who seemed a lot like you and she was not a force you wanted to mess with..."

"Wait... you can't mean... Kari... can you?" Jamie was only guessing, what did he know about her after all? Sure she had a connection to dreams, she'd said and proved that much at least; but what else was she capable of?

"So, you know her then." Pitch said flatly.

"You could say that." Jamie shifted, as he began to feel a tightness in his chest that could only be described as uneasiness as Pitch hadn't said "knew." What the heck?

"Well, your new friend has a good many secrets. Yes, it is her I meant."

"How do **you** know her?"

"Tried her whole life to scare her. Never worked. I don't know why and she's... different from most. Not that it's really any of your business." Jamie was a little surprised Pitch was sharing so much information freely when he'd demanded a price from Jack for less information.

"We're getting off hand here. You're so easy to distract and provide distraction. Why are you here?"

"Because of her." Pitch had to admit that wasn't the answer he expected and it threw him off guard.

"I beg your pardon?! What is she up to now? Trying to save Frost?"

"Actually... no." The shade was silent, stunned a second time; if not for Jack, then why?

"Why then?" He nearly growled in frustration.

"For you."

"Of all the hair brained ideas..." Jamie was silent, how was it **Pitch** of all people knew more about this mysterious woman who'd befriended Jack years ago but Jamie didn't even know the first thing about her?! It just didn't seem fair. Did everyone but Jamie know Kari, or at least about her? He struggled with frustration. This wasn't why he was here.

"I suppose you think she's right. That I'm to be saved." Pitch said flatly.

"I wouldn't call you a damsel-in-distress." Pitch's eyes narrowed and Jamie swore he heard Jack's laughter faintly echoing nearby. He glanced around but there was no sign of said winter spirit. Jack had been a little surprised to hear voices on the other side of one of his walls, muffled though despite being so close. He'd frosted the wall, trying to reach Jamie when he'd heard Pitch's taunts; yelling at Pitch how it wasn't true. He loved Jamie with all his heart! Boy though had he felt relief when he'd heard Jamie beat Pitch's game, had heard that Jamie knew Pitch was trying to trick him into giving into his fears and instead chose to believe in Jack's love for him... It had made his heart swell with pride. With the walls muffling the words, though, he'd not been able to make out exactly what they were talking about now. Something about a rescue maybe? Why did Pitch seem so riled all of the sudden? Jack frowned a little, inwardly cursing his inability to properly hear. He'd tried making an ice glass cup when he'd first heard their voices, but that hadn't worked as he'd hoped it would. So he quietly chipped at the wall with his fingers; trying vainly to dig a way out though he knows it's not really going to work, listening to the voices beyond as best as he could. He couldn't just sit and do nothing as Jamie faced Pitch on his own. He let out a growl of frustration as the voices faded as the two moved on and away from him.

"Jamie! Can you hear me?!" No response, damn. With a sigh he moved over to the bed and sat down again.

Meanwhile, Pitch led Jamie back to the throne room.

"You have my word that my intentions towards Frost are not THAT of all things. I'm not so desperate that I need to take a spirit unwillingly." Jamie leveled a serious look at Pitch.

"Why should I take you at your word alone?"

"Word is bond around here."

"Like you'd abide by that." Pitch frowned slightly, but he understood the boy's reluctance to simply accept that even he, Pitch, would keep his word.

"Fair enough. Let's make it binding then shall we?" Jamie nodded, Pitch summoned a knife from his sand, slicing his palm before passing it to Jamie who hovered a couple inches off the ground nearby; the summer spirit mimicking the motion with his opposing palm before clasping the hand that Pitch held out towards him, blood oozing from their wounds.

"I, Pitch Black, Nightmare King and ruler of Fear, proclaim on my life that I will in no way sully one Jack Frost, Guardian of Fun and bonded mate to one Jamie Summers. Lest the powers that create us all descend upon me for judgement." Jamie and Pitch released their grip simultaneously and their wounds healed with a flash of light.

"Now that's done, I think it's time you go. I have no further business with you." Jamie wanted to object, but instead merely nodded and left. He'd be back; this wasn't over.

5 - 2

When Jamie returned to the pole he was greeted by Tooth and North.

"Jamie! Thank moon you're alright!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jamie gave her a strange look and she gave him a sheepish look.

"Sorry... habit."

"Where you been? Tooth was looking for you." North said.

"I just had something I needed to do."

"Don't explain why you were mucking about Pitch's lair mate." Jamie nearly jumped at the sound of Bunny's voice and turned to look at the Pooka; how had he known?!

"I..."

"What did you hope to accomplish? A deal is a deal mate. Nothin' we can do."

"I didn't exactly go for that reason, although I wished I'd seen Jack... it's a maze down there, I couldn't find him."

"So mind tellin' us why you were there?" Jamie sighed a little and began from the beginning about the dream he'd had and what Kari had told him. He wasn't sure what he expected, maybe for them to deny everything? Sandy seemed to know already, so he didn't have expectations there, Tooth just sort of stared in shock, Bunny was silent and North... well, he looked thoughtful.

"Don't look so surprised Tooth. Ya know she'd have thought somethin' like that. Just her nature." Tooth nodded, becoming thoughtful as well. Jamie felt irritated all over again, balling his fists he stared at the group.

"Someone want to explain to me about her? About what I've obviously been missing because I'm getting just a little tired of feeling out of the loop here."

"Is simple explanation." North said with a smile. Jamie turned his focus on North.

"She was mortal guardian."

"Mortal guardian?" North nodded.

"Some human, not unlike you, possess... abilities most do not. Best known ones are often considered frauds."

"You mean like those who claim to see the future or have ESP." North nodded.

"Many are fake, but there are some who can do what they say. Kari had unique ability, could interfere with dreams; change Nightmare to dream without physically touching them. Never even saw any of us as child, but still believed. Even after past age for us to leave gifts and father reveal that he was one responsible. She believed again after movie come out and she read books; was not like when child but still belief and she caught Bunny one year..." North began laughing.

"Oi! How was I suppos'd ta know she could see me?! She was a bloomin' full grown adult then!" Tooth chuckled a little as did Sandy while Bunny rolled his eyes. Jamie smiled a little, but it faded as he considered what they had told him.

"Would love to tell you more, but Jack know her better than we." Jamie nodded, not really surprised with that answer.

Jack had nothing better to do; he'd amused himself with snow creations for a while before he'd become bored. He'd frosted the room twice over and even had made small ice creations of each of the Guardians, including the two newest. Jack curled up on the bed, clutching his staff and drifted off to sleep. Maybe he'd find Kari again. What he didn't realize was that falling asleep was not the best of ideas...

_Jack sighed, he was still stuck in the same room Pitch had shown him to. Wait... where was his staff? Jack tore around the room, looking everywhere for it, but it was no use. _

"_Looking for something?" Jack spun around, shooting up from looking under the bed to see that Pitch was standing a few paces behind him._

"_Where is it?" _

"_Not like you will need it for this Jack." Jack just stared as Pitch slowly moved forward._

"_What are you..." He didn't like the look in the other's eyes and black sand snapped around his wrists and neck, suddenly jerking him onto the bed and holding him there. The winter spirit's eyes widened. No... He couldn't... wouldn't... Jack struggled against the bonds, but it was useless._

"_Tut, tut Jack. I'm not going to hurt you. We're just going to have a little fun... You'd like that wouldn't you? After all... it is your center." Pitch said as he moved onto the bed next to Jack._

"_No! Please... not this!" Pitch's lips curled up into a smile._

"_Don't worry Jack, I will be plenty gentle with you... after all, I do have you for five years..." Jack struggled harder against the bonds, trying not to let fall the tears that were suddenly glistening in his eyes. He didn't want this... not from Pitch... never from him... or anyone but Jamie... His breath hitched, he was here because of Jamie... He tried to keep telling himself that it was okay... but he couldn't believe it... that Pitch really... _

__Pitch nearly laughed as he stood in the room, watching Jack whimper and curl up as he slept. He had made a promise to not touch Jack, even took a binding vow, but that didn't mean he couldn't torture Jack with nightmares of that very thing. After all, it was one of Jack's fears now. What a sordid imagination the winter spirit seemed to have in regards to this, he watched the Nightmare through the mare it was making; Jack really was struggling to pull himself from the dream as much as his dream self was trying to get away from the dream Pitch who was doing all sorts of things that made Jack's dream self writhe in unwanted pleasure. Pitch sighed a little. That was very tempting really... but he didn't actually have any sort of designs like that for the winter spirit. Jack just wasn't his type really and when he'd approached Jack some years before he'd been looking for a friend, maybe someone to act like a family member not a lover. Had the winter spirit opted that fateful Easter to join him, he imagined the younger spirit would have been like a son to him or a younger sibling. After a moment he ended the Nightmare before it fully played out, pulling the new Nightmare from Jack and letting the winter spirit sink into a dreamless sleep at the critical moment in the Nightmare, just before his dream version was to penetrate the helpless spirit. He left the room and Jack, who clutched his staff in a death grip now, despite the end of the dream.

Jamie paced in his room. He couldn't sleep; not that he didn't want to or that he really needed it like he had when he'd been alive, but even though he knew he should sleep he just couldn't. It was frustrating that he hadn't been able to do more than get Pitch's binding word... at least Jack was safe from that. It begged to question though, what DID the Boogeyman want with Jack? Revenge? Was he going to force Jack to help him take over the world? Jamie wouldn't put it past him, but he needed to get Jack out of there; it didn't really matter too much why the shade wanted Jack. Jamie knew that, whatever Pitch was planning, it would not be good. He thought over what Kari had said to him about helping Pitch. The thing was, he wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to go about this. Pitch obviously thought it was a ridiculous idea and had all but scoffed at him when he had told the shade the reason that he was there. Was Pitch really worth saving? Apparently she had thought so, but who was she exactly? The Guardians had seemed to know of her, but hadn't given him much more of an answer than he had gotten from Pitch. North had said that Jack knew her best, that she had still believed in them, even as an adult and had even managed to catch Bunny once... so, what did this all mean? She had been a Mortal Guardian... like him in a way, so why was it she hadn't been brought back like he had? Why had she passed into the next life instead of becoming an immortal? Why hadn't she been the one to join the Guardians instead of him? Was it because of how she had died? Did that have something to do with it? He considered his own death. His had been an accident but hers... she had summoned Jack to his pond... She had asked him to take her life. Asked his love to kill her and Jack, however reluctant he had been, had obliged her. Why were there more questions about this person than there were answers? It seemed that there was a lot that didn't fit and he sat down on the bed, his head hurt a little as he tried to figure all of this out. He realized he must have passed out at some point because when he felt someone watching him he'd glanced over towards the balcony to find the person of his thoughts was looking back at him. She wore the same loose robes he'd seen her in the previous time. He met her gaze steadily; he needed answers and he was going to get them.

5 -3

"You seem a bit on edge tonight."

"Who are you?"

"Hmm?" She seemed caught off guard by the question.

"Maybe I should ask a different way. Who _were _you? In life."

"I was no one particularly special."

"That's not what I've heard from the other Guardians. You were a Mortal Guardian."

"That so? Hmmm, I suppose I was, but it wasn't something that I chose."

"Explain." She leaned back against the wall next to the glass doors that led to the balcony.

"I'll try. You see, I never fully understood it all myself so explaining it can be... difficult."

"Pitch said he spent your entire life trying to scare you and failed."

"Hmmm... well, after a time he did anyway. I was a normal child in my youth, but after age thirteen it became harder to actually scare me due to my early introduction of horror thanks to my mother. She wasn't the best of mothers, but there are far worse than she, so I have no real complaints there." Jamie raised an eyebrow at her candid tone, but said nothing so she simply continued.

"When I was just six years old, something happened shortly before Christmas. I can no longer tell you what the date was because it's been long lost in my memory and I was just a kid at the time. I became sick with a common cold. It was during the night that I felt the most ill that something that would change my life happened. I had a vision in a dream. At the time, I thought it was just a nightmare, albeit a very realistic one. It was a glimpse of a future event that involved the death of someone I had no relation to, I had no idea about this person's existence because I didn't even live in the same city he did but I dreamed about how he would die. It was a simple accident, of course since I was a child when I had this dream it was something easily dismissed from my mind. I never forget that dream, for some reason; it stuck with me as if it was something I had actually witnessed happening. Eight years later, I was watching the news because there was nothing else on when I saw it; that vision that I had that Christmas came to pass. It happened just as I had seen in that dream. It was then, at fourteen, that I realized I wasn't normal. That there was something... different about me. With no prior knowledge of how to do it, or even knowing what I was doing, I began to realize that I could invoke what is called Lucid Dreams. I could do so at will and even manipulate the dreams, not just my own, but affect those of others as well. That's when I became aware of the Shadows and they of me."

"What are these shadows?"

"The Shadows are what the others know as Fearlings and take many forms. In the world of dreams, they are a persistent, malevolent, omnipresent force. Comprised of everything that goes against what the Guardians protect; doubt, fear, hopelessness, despair, death, hatred, stupidity... the list goes on and on."

"I see. These Shadows... they control Pitch?"

"Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"The Fearlings that reside in Pitchner are reliant on him to survive, preying on fear itself because they have no other power on Earth; unable to directly influence humans as they had others before. The man who was, before Pitch Black, was consumed by the Fearlings, but because fear itself is not a self-sustaining constant state of being, the Fearlings force him to create fear in others so that they may maintain their hold on him."

"You said that he was once someone else. Does he have a family still?"

"He does."

"Does he know?"

"Yes, but because he is not the man she knew, she will not willingly see him."

"Who is she?"

"His daughter."

"She is still alive then?"

"Yes, you could say that. Like yourself, she is an immortal; a spirit now."

"Who is she?"

"Her real name is Emily Jane, she took the name Seraphina to keep others from realizing she was related to the Boogeyman. She is better known, to most, as Mother Nature." Jamie was silent. Mother Nature was Pitch's daughter? Well, wasn't that one fine family mess?

"Will she help?"

"Perhaps. She is not known for being moody for nothing; the rumors you have likely heard of her temperament are quite true. Whether or not she will aide you in helping him is not something I can answer."

"Who were you to Jack?" He asked after a long moment.

"A friend, nothing more. Before you came along, he was very lonely and found me; even though I did not actually see him or meet him in person until after your death, i think he liked being around me or at least he tried to help me. I was a lonely child. I didn't have friends when I was younger because I think they sensed that I was different from them and humans, as a species, aren't very accepting of what is different if they cannot explain it.I was singled out, bullied, there weren't any other kids in my neighborhood who were my age so I didn't have others to play with and since my parents were divorced when I was only two years old, my father didn't have much time to spend with me because he was busy working to provide us with food and other essentials. I'm sure you can relate." He nodded, recalling his mother had worked long hours to provide for him and his sister, but he couldn't recall why his father hadn't been there. A memory he had likely forgotten and it didn't matter too much that he didn't know.

"I had a half brother, but my relations with him weren't on a daily basis because his father wasn't mine and I didn't live with them. I had step siblings, for the short time our mother was married to that man, but after mom had my brother she was done having children. When she divorced him as well my brother went to live with him, just like I lived with my dad. That left me alone, with no steady playmates as before, didn't help my former step siblings were older. I lost touch with them after the divorce. Never saw 'em again. I spent the remainder of my childhood often alone as it was rare when our mother had both me and my brother over at her home for two nights out of every couple weeks... if I'm remembering right. I can't say if I am or not, it was such a long time ago for me."

"Why aren't you immortal, like me and Jack?" His question was met with a long moment of silence. Was the answer to that a sort point for her or was it simply that she could not answer? He was beginning to think it was more along the lather when she finally answered.

"It wasn't meant to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I cannot give you the specifics, but it is, most simply put, just that. I was not meant to be an immortal."

"Why would you be made a Mortal Guardian then if you weren't meant to be an immortal? That doesn't make any sense."

"I imagine it doesn't. When the time comes, you will have all the answers to such questions, just as I was granted such; however, that time is not now."

"If you are able to give me all the answers, why can't you?" She seemed thoughtful about that for a moment before she gave a reply.

"Let me ask you this; if you knew that you would die that day at the pond, would you have still gone swimming?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because my death hurt Jack... I would never want to cause him pain."

"Even if that pain was part of what helped him grow?"

"I don't get what you mean."

"Things happen for a reason, consider this, if you had known you were going to die that day you would have spent the rest of your life avoiding that pond and worrying about it. Trying to avoid the inevitable at all costs, which likely would have meant you would have died in some other way, and perhaps a less peaceful way."

"Huh?"

"Death is an inevitability that all mortals must face, the day and moment that they are meant to die is when they will die, regardless of whatever steps they may take to prevent it. It is, perhaps, the only thing of a mortal's life that is set in stone. How they die, however, is usually dependant on the choices they choose to make in life. You said yourself a moment ago you'd avoid dying. Truth is, you cannot escape that. Knowing too much is both a burden and a responsibility that no human is meant to have. Too much knowledge, for a mortal, is dangerous."

"How so?" She sighed a little.

"Because knowledge of such things, such as one's own death for example, keeps a mortal from truly living. Anyone mortal who would know in their life as much as we are granted knowing in the life after, would simply spend life so concerned with things that did not concern them that they would not be able to enjoy life as it is meant to be enjoyed. Life is short. Sometimes it has great meaning, sometimes none at all. Then there are those like me... who linger between their life having meaning and having none at all."

"There's no way your life has no meaning."

"Well, up until the point where Jack entered my life for those ten years before he found you... it didn't. I was simply just another adult struggling to make a living. There was nothing so special about be at that point, even with my "gift" to really affect anyone outside the few handful of people who cared about me. It was only when Jack came into my life was I able to have a small impact that would ripple."


End file.
